Arkitektonisk transformation/Transformation in architecture

Torben Skovbjerg Larsen from AART Architects (http://aart.dk/da) was a guest lecturer at our school today, presenting his office and their projects, but also commenting on our semester projects at the current stage of the process.
The semester project task is to come up with a new proposal for Aalborg Teater (the theatre in Aalborg - http://www.aalborgteater.dk/). In my semester group we have decided to work with the site where it is currently situated, because it is in the heart of the historical, old Aalborg and tangents the Boulevard - the main pedestrian transit ore in the city.
But by remaining at the current site we also have to consider the existing Buildings on the site - some of them listed as worthy of preservation. The real task of the project therefore is to reuse and transform the relevant and worthy part of the existing buildings.

During Torben Skovbjerg Larsens lecture, he presents their project Kulturværftet Helsingør, which also is a transformation of an old shipyard into a multi-cultural, open-to-public building.
The project has a clear contrast between the rawness of the old buildings and the structural principal of the added glass facade, constructed as a triagonal grid. I have never visited the site or the building, but the glass facade is a little too noisy, in relation to the old building, for my taste...but the arcade it creates in at the facade looks almost exotic.
You can see the project here.

The transformation of old into modern, and  especially the meeting between old and new is something we find quite interesting in my semester group, and therefore we have sought some inspiration how to work with it. But why does it by any means make sense to preserve old buildings, and is it worth the trouble to transform it into something qualified for todays needs?

The best litterature on the subject is currently "Old Builings, New Design - Architectural Transformations" by Charles Bloszies. It discusses the pros and cons of transformations in a very reasonable way.

Here are a few quotes from the book:

”Old buildings (…) conjure up nostalgic feelings and remind us of seemingly simpler times”. Their composition and massing are easy to understand, and their familiar ornamentation adds a richness of texture often absent in modernist architecture.” (Bloszies p.15)

"Projects that combine new and old building fabric pose technical design and detailing challenges not encountered in entirely new construction. Since part oof the final assembly already exists, som owners believe that the design and documentation efforts required to complete the hybrid of new and old should be easier (and consequently design fees should be lower) than for a new building. Actually, the opposite is true." (Bloszies p. 56)

If you are interested in the book, you can buy it here on Amazon.

What it your oppinion on the subject?