The Fight Over Berlin’s Charming Streetlights, The Atlantic (Oct. 11, 2013)

This is a tricky one. Germany is such a leader in technology and especially renewable energy and energy efficiency, but this sentiment does resonate:

“So why the passionate response from gas lamp supporters? Put simply, Berlin has already lost so much old stuff that it can’t lose any more without some sense of pain. For obvious reasons, Berlin isn’t a place that has an immaculately preserved past, and the city’s sense of history is often evoked as much by a sense of what’s missing as what’s present. That so many historic lanterns have survived redevelopment, bombing and partition, even on streets that are otherwise lined with post-World War II buildings, is something of a miracle, one that many do not want to see undone.”

I’ve been thinking about preservation a lot this weekend already, and have been in the midst of tensions between preservation and sustainability for awhile. I know where I always come down, but what about you?