Repair, restoration, rebuilding, renovation, modernization, extension – these are the building methods that are usually connected to "Construction in Existing Contexts". The specific appreciation of a historic building marks the starting point for such activities, their aim is to conserve or even increase value.

But "Construction in Existing Contexts" is not an exclusively modern problem, as many examples since antiquity proof. Greater relevance achieves this complex in places with roman past (e.g. Trier, Cologne), but also Carolingian and Ottonian building-roots are often cherished (e.g. Aachen, Magdeburg). Even in gothic times, which are told to be the first anti-antique building style, or in early modern times, when different concepts of visualization of the past are preferred, one can find a harmonic or at least a dialectic relationship between old and new (e.g. St.-Denis, Chartres, New-St.-Peter).