Associate Professor of Architecture Paul Kapp sits back in his chair and pauses before he answers a question about the meaning of iconoclasm.
“It wasn't really until the George Floyd riots and the four years surrounding Mr. Floyd’s death that I thought in greater detail about iconoclasm. So, I wrote an article, "Conservation, Tradition and Popular Iconoclasm in North America," in a British journal,” he said. It turns out Kapp has much to say on the subject as it relates to architecture and public spaces. “From there I have been working on this idea as a book project.”
In the journal article, Kapp questions whether monuments should be preserved, reinterpreted, or removed. He also asks who should make those decisions as he calls for a balanced approach that allows a dynamic and inclusive conversation about their preservation, hence shaping the understanding and engagement of future generations with their built patrimony.
Prior to that article, Kapp encountered vandalism and iconoclasm in the 20 plus years that he served as the historic architect of the University of North Carolina, during his work with historic monuments. Kapp notes that the 2020 death of Floyd hastened the demand by Americans to reject the tangible and intangible heritage of institutionalized white supremacy, so much so, that protesters pulled down statues of historical figures, not limited to the American Civil War, but also associated with European colonialism before the American Revolution. These monuments include Christopher Columbus statues, the Equestrian Statue of Theodore Roosevelt that was once located outside the American Museum of Natural History in New York City until January 2022, a Ponce de Leon statue in San Juan, Puerto Rico, among many others.
Source: Smithsonian Magazine (2024).
“This is something that has been happening with greater frequency in the last 10 years, not only in the U.S., but across the world,” said Kapp, who has been researching how iconoclasm has happened in modernity, specifically since the French Revolution to the present, noting the importance of distinguishing that time period, as iconoclasm has been going on throughout the ages beginning with the Egyptians or Mesopotamians. “It wasn't until the French Revolution that iconoclasm became something that we think of today as not just a religious act, a counter-religious act, but a secular one as well. I've been looking at how it occurs, and how in some instances it becomes a new work of art, a transformation of the existing object, a transformation that gives it new meaning. Then I also look at how iconoclasm is not the end of the story, not the permanent solution, but an ongoing cycle of how we ritualize the public square,” he said.
“Popular Iconoclasm in the Public Square will be the first historic preservation theory-informed book to examine the discordance among the public over controversial historic monuments in the historic landscape and how it should be addressed,” Kapp said of his unique historic preservation approach, which differs from a typical historian approach. It focuses on what is happening in our civic public spaces today, examining how each municipality has addressed this issue in its own way.
“It also challenges architects, landscape architects, conservationists, preservationists, elected officials, and the public to reconsider the public square and whether or not civic art that memorializes anything is still relevant or if we can reimagine this practice,” he said.
Slated for publication by Anthem Press in 2026, Kapp’s research is already in the limelight. Having undertaken research in France on iconoclasm as a Fulbright Scholar in 2023, he is set to complete this research during his upcoming Guggenheim Fellowship in 2025. Drawing parallels from precedent studies, such as France’s experience with secular iconoclasm since the Revolution, and international heritage management approaches like UNESCO and the European Union charters that protect historical monuments from acts of war and degradation, Kapp’s work examines and proposes how North American heritage could adopt protocols or systems that acknowledge the ever-changing heritage, societal needs, multiple histories, and diverse identities of our community members
Kapp’s research and publication will be a significant contribution to Notre Dame School of Architecture’s discussions about historic preservation, urban design, cultural heritage, and providing a framework for addressing contested monuments in the changing cultural landscape of North America. Among the many very serious issues facing historic preservation today — such as climate change and social inequity — Kapp believes that iconoclasm is the most consequential one, especially in the U.S., which will be 250 years old in two years. “This gives four generations for us to consider how we have looked at the patrimony of these statues and how we decide if they must be preserved or destroyed,” he said.
Kapp said he hopes the book will provide perspective about the way we look at our historic monuments and the public spaces that host them, not only for experts and scholars, but for the general public as we engage in a larger conversation. One of the premises upon which the faculty at the School of Architecture teach is that the public square is something that should be celebrated, shared, and enjoyed by all community members and visitors.
Kapp’s research is a welcome new chapter in historic preservation and urban design, despite the intricacies of its challenges.
Author: Charles Ghati, MSHP Candidate, Class of 2025. Charles is a registered architect in Kenya, where he practiced before joining the Notre Dame School of Architecture.
Originally published by at architecture.nd.edu on October 18, 2024.