This:
http://ad009cdnb.archdaily.net/wp-co...arc-cramer.jpg
That is PERFECTION to me. It's as good as Halifax's one with the red balconies, or that church one from, I believe, Kitchener. Mixing old and new, outside of the heritage area, of course, can be creative. It doesn't need to be a faux extension.
Reminds me of the style that Tuzla, Bosnia has embraced. It's a mostly Muslim but very passionately, proudly religiously mixed city. It is probably the only city in the entirety of the former Yugoslavia that did not elect a nationalist government, even during the war.
Anyhow, they have an old, Islamic core, and sprawling socialist commieblock suburbia. But they're filling it in with the most interesting mix.
The mosque here is old, and the old marketplace buildings around it are old, but this an ENTIRELY new public square, once the camera turns around. From about 1 minute on, all new.
• Video Link
Can you imagine Canada building something like that from scratch?
Well, you should. Because it makes a beautiful way of life.