Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Architecture: Heritage, Traditions and Innovations (AHTI 2022)

The concern for the preservation of architectural monuments unites those who are adherent to conservative cultural values. However, the complexity of the problem is due to the fact that their opponents – adherents of the idea of radical modernization of historical settlements – rely on a long tradition, according to which it is necessary and progressive to destroy the old and to create something new in its place. It turns out that protection of the heritage demands a destruction of one of the foundations of traditional culture. Calls for compromises of interests of preservation and urban development do not lead to reconciliation of the parties, as they argue against the destruction of the authentic and unique artifacts or against hampering creativity of contemporary urban planners and designers. The author of this article proposes not to obscure the problem, but to solve it on the basis of recognition of the historically unprecedented novelty of the current cultural paradigm. He concludes that the time has come to reject radical renewal of the historical heritage, nowadays called a non-renewable cultural resource. Architectural innovations should be a priori delicate with the heritage and have sufficient spatial isolation from it.