Both the word and the thing are modern. To restore an edifice means neither to maintain it, nor to rebuild it; it means to re-establish in a completed state, which may in fact have never existed at any given time.Violet-le-Duc is a controversial figure, a fact that wouldn't bother him at all. What impresses me about that quote is the courage it shows. Courage that the man demonstrated in the work he did.
It seems to me that this attitude applies to more than just restoring buildings. To restore anything at all means to take the risk of creating something new in the process. To think that anything else is possible is delusional and the risk of paralysis is very real.
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