Some people believe it is important to conserve and maintain old buildings instead of replacing them with modern ones. In my opinion, if preserving old buildings is possible, then it should be done. However, other factors may need to be taken into account before deciding whether or not a building should be preserved.
When having to decide whether or not old buildings should be replaced by new ones, several reasons can be put forward in defence of old buildings. For example, many old buildings may represent a piece of history and can be of great meaning to local people. From an architectural point of view, they can be regarded as a symbol of human creativity and passion for representing human beliefs. Churchs around the world are a good example of this point. In the same line of thought, the previous arguments can be summarized in one word, namely, “identity”. These buildings are part of people’s identity so making them worthy enough to keep and maintain them. However, despite the very good arguments given above, it is certain that the context also matters. For example, it could be reasonable to replace old buildings with new ones if they were difficult to maintain and there was a habitational crisis demanding houses for people or if there was a natural disaster whose consequences need to be attended.
All in all, preserving and maintaining old buildings should be done if it can be done as they can be meaningful to people. However, the context (economic, environmental, etc.) should also be considered.