“Putting two screws is forbidden!” »
This principled objection sometimes comes up when we think about the simple act of hanging a medal. It is true that when we talk about “heritage enhancement” we quickly think of castles, churches or highly protected old buildings (properties of regional or national importance.)
This is often to speak of the exception, because there are an infinite number of “small heritage” places where the problem absolutely does not arise.
During the design work of the Medals Genius Loci, and by specifically questioning heritage protection specialists, their response was always much more nuanced and generally very benevolent in relation to our approach:
– The final goal of the rules for protecting facades is obviously not to degrade or distort the built heritage.
This obviously excludes any marketing type display (panels, banners, etc.) which takes up space visually, especially when it is unrelated to the object.
In the case of Genius Loci the aim of the Medals is specifically to highlight the Place, to explain why it is significant, which is completely within the mission of heritage protection.
What is the point of protecting heritage if no one is informed of what makes it valuable?
In addition, the medals are small and discreet enough to be placed elegantly near the object without impacting it.
– In practice, rather than drilling Carrara marble or 14th century wood, there is always an alternative: fix the medal in a recent masonry connection, a nearby public bench, a picnic table, a barrier or a pole…
Rather than drilling a medal into the facade of the Cathedral, we could place ten of them (linked to the same Place) distributed on the surrounding public benches... They will also be more visible.
This medal was installed on the historic Bourg Gate of St-Prex in Switzerland, it is a protected building of national importance. In this case, the rules were strict, it was possible to take advantage of a recent masonry connection to hang the medal in clear view, right next to the door.