Huxley B.

Vancouver, British Columbia

Vancouver Heritage Fair

Endangered Past: The Loss of Vancouver's Heritage Homes

Endangered Past is about the demolition of Vancouver's heritage homes. My project revolves around the question: When we demolish heritage homes, what else do we lose besides our buildings?

 

 

What was the most interesting thing you learned about your topic?

The most interesting thing I learned about my topic was how heritage homes have stories. If you don't know these stories, you could walk past these homes not knowing something interesting about them, something with connections to the past. These homes tell you about the history of Vancouver, and how people lived back then.

What important lessons have you learned that you want to share with other Canadians?

I think it's important to honour and respect our history and heritage, and not always be so quick to replace it with something more modern. It's not that development or progress is negative, but we need to preserve parts of our past so we can learn from it and so that it isn't forgotten. People have also managed to stop the demolition of some heritage homes, so I think it's also important to know that you can make a change

How would you compare your life today to the lives of those studied in your project?

I didn't study anyone's life in my project but I could compare the "lives" of the homes of the past and present. I think that the old homes were much better built because they were meant to last for centuries, as some have. Modern homes are made to be easily reproduced, and as a result they have less character.