Choosing Memory of the Future: The Case of Shanghai in Vilnius, Lithuania Part 2 Dissertation 2024 Ieva Davulyte University of Cambridge | UK Conservation is an urgent discourse in rapidly changing urban contexts. This dissertation is not against demolishing, nor does it criticize replacing old with new. It accepts change as a constant part of our daily life. However, this essay stresses that we are left with a rather challenging task – to continuously evaluate the present in an environment where we form ties to new things before even saying “bye” to the old ones. This dissertation presents contemporary preservation as a conservation technique that encourages the public to evaluate the present in a meaningful way, with a good sense of what was and what could be. The idea is that preservation is a discipline in which anyone could be a preservationist if only there was interest in exploring reality in depth. Contemporary preservationists are architects, artists, and most importantly the public. Preservation is a careful testing process after which it becomes clearer what meaning a place holds and only then a process of interpretation can begin. The interpretation can lead to a completely new form, but most importantly, if the testing process has been done, even a new building replacing an old one can still carry the same meaning. Tutor(s) Emily So