IBRAHIM MALLOUM 19/11/2010
Moustapha
IMRI1

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How important is to maintain old buildings ? Should history stand in the way of progress?

Two years ago, I remember a demonstration in Momentrancy street. In this street there is Nicolas Poussin’s house. He has been a famous French painter and he dead in the 17th century. Those person refused that Paris City Hall destroy the building.

In my opinion, old buildings are not all useful. I think that we must maintain some old building but the majority have to be destroy for new ones. I think that those which reflect nation’s history, which take part in nation’s development must be maintain. They are symbolic and they keep track of nation’s history after several tens of years.
Moreover old building add charm to cities. Indeed, all romantic cities are filled of old building (Paris, Venetia, Roman,…). Asian, American or African tourists do not have much old buildings in their countries so they travel to discover old architecture. This increases nations GDP.

However, most of the countries which fought for the independence wanted to break with the past. So they decided to destruct all the buildings who refer to the independence and to build brand new ones. This is true for many Asian and African countries.
Furthermore, today all poor African countries who are developing want their cities to look like American countries. I want to take for example Chad a poor African country: in 2007 when I went there, there was no building but some brick villa an many houses in terracotta. Today those terracotta houses are almost all replaced by brick houses and several buildings.

To conclude I think that some historical building must be maintain but to stand in the way of progress countries have to destroy the other ones to built brand new other building with a modern architecture and much