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Friday 3 September 2004
Restoration
We do not subscribe to the view that all dilapidated historic buildings deserve to be restored. Often a modern replacement would be preferable. But when a building of exceptional aesthetic merit is saved from ruin and restored to its former glories, as in the case of Nicholas Hawksmoor's baroque masterpiece, Christ Church Spitalfields, in east London, we are happy to laud the achievement.
We do not subscribe to the view that all dilapidated historic buildings deserve to be restored. Often a modern replacement would be preferable. But when a building of exceptional aesthetic merit is saved from ruin and restored to its former glories, as in the case of Nicholas Hawksmoor's baroque masterpiece, Christ Church Spitalfields, in east London, we are happy to laud the achievement.
Hawksmoor, one of Christopher Wren's most talented disciples, had a command of architectural form that was the equal of his great continental contemporaries. How fitting that, at a time when London is thriving, one of its great edifices from a former self-confident era should be resurrected.
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This week's big questions: How best to react to Woolwich? Has Miliband got what it takes? And is Stephen King right about ebooks?
Ian Rankin -
What, let gays get married? We must be bonkers
Mark Steel -
Dogma will always lead to murder. In the end, scepticism is the only answer
A C Grayling -
The Daily Cartoon
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Farewell, Shameless. Your heirs have work to do
Owen Jones
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Editorial: Salutary lessons from a libellous tweet from Sally Bercow
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As Hay-on-Wye opens this week, it's time for book festivals to open a new and exciting chapter
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Tim Key: 'If you don't have to tranquilise an animal to get it into your zoo it shouldn't come in'
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The Holocaust can’t be a joke – least of all in Berlin
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The new version of Ibsen's Public Enemy is a drama where democracy doesn't win any votes
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