facadism

or fa·çad·ism

[ fuh-sah-diz-uhm ]

noun

1. the principle or practice of preserving the fronts of buildings that have elegant architectural designs; the construction of a modern building behind its old or original front.

Word History and Origins

Origin of facadism¹

First recorded in 1930–35; facad(e) + -ism ( def )

Example Sentences

London blogger The Gentle Author has been photographing the changing face of London, focusing on what is known as "facadism", the practice of destroying everything apart from the front wall and constructing a new building behind it.

From BBC

In her new book, “Building Reuse: Sustainability, Preservation, and the Value of Design,” she writes, “More often than not … the facade becomes visually engulfed by the new addition. If the alternative is complete demolition, then façadism supplies at least a weak sense of history and scale to the neighborhood, and no more.”

From Seattle Times

If you live in Seattle, you know what “façadism” means, even if you’ve never heard of it.

From Seattle Times

For him the idea of facadism is looking like "the number one possibility at the moment".

From BBC

At best this results in projects like the Evergreen Building; at worst token façadism.

From The Guardian