Preserving the future: Architecture and heritage conservation in dialogue

Demolition and new construction are losing their appeal. In view of scarce resources, growing cities, and an escalating climate crisis, the architectural focus is shifting: away from pure creation and toward building on. The existing building stock becomes a projection surface for a new attitude—one that understands the past as a starting point, not an obstacle.

With the exhibition “What Was Could Become”, the Swiss Architecture Museum (S AM) in Basel takes this shift seriously. Between April 5 and September 14, 2025, the relationship between heritage conservation and architecture will be re-examined. In collaboration with ETH Zurich, a multifaceted view emerges of what was—and what it can become.

Existing buildings as a resource for construction

The exhibition understands the existing building stock not as a nostalgic object, but as architectural potential. At a time when the construction sector must find new paths, careful handling of what already exists is essential. Preservation becomes an ecological strategy, and heritage conservation a methodological foundation.

Where demolition and new construction once dominated, transformative processes are emerging today. Existing buildings are rewritten, reread, carefully extended. This approach requires knowledge: of materials, structures, and the history of a place. It calls for joint action across disciplines—and openness to the unfinished.

Experiments between tradition and the present

The exhibition is structured spatially. A look back at the European Architectural Heritage Year 1975 establishes historical references. In another room, students from ETH Zurich present curated case studies that address heritage conservation in the tension field of contemporary architectural practice. The range extends from subtle interventions to radical reinterpretations.

Another focus is dedicated to the renovation of the Zurich Kongresshaus. The project by the ARGE Boesch Diener exemplifies how a new architectural whole can be developed with both sensitivity and design ambition. Historic elements were restored, overlaid structures removed, and new parts inserted. A layered dialogue between history and the present emerges.

Rethinking heritage conservation

In the final section, the focus turns to the future. What will be considered worth preserving in 2075? How does the perception of architecture change across generations? And how can future-oriented heritage conservation be conceived—one that takes social diversity, climate issues, and transformation seriously?

The exhibition does not provide ready-made answers; instead, it opens up a space of possibilities. In discussions, guided tours, and the “Denk-Mal-Bar”, the public is invited to contribute their own perspectives. An interactive audio guide also involves visitors directly. Heritage conservation thus becomes a matter for negotiation—one that claims social relevance.

Education, mediation, exchange

Last but not least, the exhibition also addresses the education sector: school classes, students, and teachers are invited to experience heritage conservation not as theory, but as a process that can be shaped. Dialogic mediation takes center stage.

“What Was Could Become” rethinks architecture and heritage conservation together. Between memory and design, a new understanding emerges of what building may mean in the future: taking responsibility, preserving spaces—and shaping them in the process.

Title: What Was Could Become: Experiments between heritage conservation and architecture

Duration: April 5 to September 14, 2025

Venue: S AM Swiss Architecture Museum

Address: Steinenberg 7, CH-4051 Basel

Website: www.sam-basel.org