Authenticity: a plea for the sham buildings

Abstract

Even today the preoccupation and belief of some who regard this edifice as a 'sham' is alluded to through various descriptions. An "optical illusion..... Kauri [made to look like] rock" MacLcan, Richard. 16 Nov, 1993.p12. as well as an "imitation stone structure" Munro, Mike. 6 Jul, 1993. are among these. Akin to these descriptions one is reminded of their neighbouring delineations such as, 'artificial', 'fraudulant' and 'fake' - a rather severe description of something that is characterised as one of "New Zealand's most significant historic buildings" McKenzie, Jim. P.18 , with their permanent preservation being regarded as "essential" Munro, Milud 1993. More importantly, to William Henry Clayton, they were considered to be the 'largest and most important building[s]' AJHR, 1874 vol. I, E-3 undertaken in his 30 years of architectural practice. Conversely, 'original', 'genuine', and ..... 'authentic' suggest the opposite to 'sham'. In fact, the debate surrounding authenticity is one of the principal topics in the conservation profession. What, then, is authenticity in conservation architecture? Is it obtainable?