Facades as a Time Capsule

We're used to thinking of facades as something static and permanent, but they're actually the most changeable part of architecture. The frame and load-bearing walls can stand for centuries, yet the face of a building shifts with the tastes of each era.

It's an interesting paradox: the facade is at once the most enduring thing (what stays in the city's memory) and the most ephemeral (what's easiest to change). When we design a new facade, do we do it knowing that in 50 years it might be reworked to suit a new fashion?

Sometimes I catch myself wondering how a 19th-century architect would react if he knew his elegant stucco ornament would be covered with aluminum panels in the 1970s. Would he be glad the building lives on, or horrified by the new look?

Maybe we should design facades with their future transformations in mind? It's like writing a letter to the future, knowing it will inevitably be edited. But I hope a few phrases will stay unchanged.