[Ned.B]

^Old world craftsmanship is still available, otherwise we would never be able to repair these buildings, but it is definitely less prevalent and much more expensive today. Computer scanning and fabrication may be able to increasingly replace craftsman in areas such as stone carving to make it more feasible in the future.

But I think in this case it is less about being truthful to the age, or the ability to remake historic buildings well, as it is making an architecture that tells an appropriate story. As Mr. Downtown points out the Gothic Revival buildings of the University of Chicago Campus are already historic reproductions of a style that originates in the 11th-14th centuries. It was done because Gothic was strongly associated with academic learning and university structures from the much older institutions in Europe.

The Obama Center is not being constructed in Gothic Revival because the style wouldn't impart the message that our former president wants to convey, nor would it have any relevance to his presidency. One could argue whether the current building has the right tone, shape, etc, etc, but a building an a Classical or other historical style isn't going to do the job. It's similar to how a Classical building on the Mall in Washington DC was not going to be able to effectively tell the story of African American or American Indian history.