Call it nostalgia or call it a self-awakening, but Asians are rediscovering the value of their architectural heritage. From ancient police courts in Shanxi, China to forest temples in Thailand, from colonial quays in Singapore to the brick kilns and iron smithies of Mao Zedong's Great Leap Forward, the word is out that preservation is in.
The urge for profit and a misconceived notion of progress have always been the past's main enemies. In the rush to replace the old, to build modern nation states with improved infrastructures and social programs, urban preservation was seen as a hindrance and preservationists as sentimental obstructionists. The money to be made from real-estate dealings paved the way for entire historic districts to be razed, with anonymous public-housing projects and groves of featureless, private high-rises springing up in their place. Improvements in road systems, while helping traffic flows, have also spelled the end for many outstanding heritage sites. One imminent victim of plans to build an expressway close to the Siam Square district of Bangkok is the Jim Thompson House, named after the American responsible for almost single-handedly reviving the Thai silk trade. The complex of wooden buildings that form the nucleus of the canal-side house were transported from Ayuthaya in the 1950s and have been part of Bangkok's cultural itinerary for years.
The economic slowdown of the 1990s, which affected urban projects in countries like Thailand, provided a temporary respite from the fixation on development at all costs and a window of opportunity for preservationists to make themselves heard. Now, Asians are realizing that older neighborhoods not only provide an attractive backdrop to their lives, but are part of a cultural identity that is increasingly at risk from Western-style modernity.