Conservationism in Architecture and Our Heritage

Does any one generation of people or one Century alone have a monopoly on beauty? I think the answer to that is simple: no. And yet some of us tend to think that preserving old and ancient things exactly as they are or as they were in the past is a worthy goal. We can see this phenomenon in ecology as well as architecture and pretty much any field where change continually happens. This anti-evolutionist movement (which I gave the general name 'Conservationism') is very strong all over the world, but particularly here in Poland, where property rights are a very new concept and not respecting them is the norm for both citizens and government. Not only are a whole host of privately owned building here in Poland controlled by a decree by the Ministry of Culture, but a debate is continually raging on about not letting people in historical areas change their homes. In fact, people who live in these so-called 'historically significant sites' are forbidden from even changing the colours of their walls or materials from which their homes are built. They are not allowed to add any element to the structure or take any elements away (this includes both inside and outside). If the house (usually a villa, mansion, or 'Kamienica') has to be refurbished or simply just repaired, a special company has to do it, using only the same identical materials which were used in the epoch back when the thing was first constructed. This all seems pretty insane to me. Not only is a direct violation of property rights, but it is just plain stupid! A large number of the buildings which are now being 'protected' (from their own owners, I might add) were changed by former owners in the 18th and 19th Centuries - nobody had a problem with it back then. A lot of the buildings would not be half as lavish or beautiful if people were banned from ever altering them! Many Polish 'Kamienice' are 15th Century, but they have upper stories or beautiful ornaments which were added in the following Centuries. So why are we banning additions NOW?

Take the famous Vatican Obelisk, for example. It is now a hallmark of St. Peter's Square at the Vatican. But not many people know that it was actually originally made in Egypt. It was then brought to Rome by the Emperor Caligula and only moved to St. Peter's Square by Pope Sixtus V in 1586. Does this mean it must now be 'glued' in place at the Vatican forever? Of course not, that would be absurd! People move and alter things all the time. Sometimes they do so unconsciously, but most of the time they do it in order to improve their own private property. We cannot ban change, we cannot stop evolution!
Conservationism, both the architectural and the environmental kind, is a extreme form of Conservatism. Why extreme? Because whereas political or moral conservatives want to stop the evolution of people's thinking (or at least nail it down permanently to some already discovered principles), the conservationists want to do the same thing with the physical world. The physical world is changing all the time though, with or without human influence. Trying to stop it is even more crazy than trying to control people's beliefs. It all stems from a fear of tomorrow, a fear of uncertainty, a fear of risk. I pity conservationists, because they are truly pitiful people - so afraid of what might happen tomorrow, they want to make today permanent...