I tida som har gått sidan friluftsmuseas barndom i Norden, omkring førre hundre-årsskifte, har prinsippa for gjenreising av bygningar og innreiing av heimar på museum endra seg. Museumsideologi og utstillingsspråk har veksla, og synet på balansen mellom vern, bruk og tilpassing av museumsbygningar likeeins. Etter at bygningar kom på museum fekk nokre ein tilleggsfunksjon ut over det å ta vare på og visa byggeskikk. Ein del museumsbygnin-gar vart nytta som utstillingslokale for

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... , noko som serleg førekom i tidlege museumsår, gjerne i ein overgangsperiode før museet bygde eigen utstillingsbygning. I andre fall har mu-seumsbygningar vorte brukt til servering eller samkomer, samstundes som dei skulle formidla ein stad-og tidfesta bolk av kul-turhistoria. Dei fleste bygningane som 63 Abstract This article discusses the reinterpretation of buildings preserved at museums. The issue arises out of an actual case: A building that was originally reconstructed at Norsk Folkemuseum in order to represent the early 19 th century is about to be turned into a representation of the 1950s. This transformation means that the building has to be exposed to certain physical changes, which in turn raises several questions. One crucial point is the relation between two of the main aims of a museum: The preservation of historical buildings on the one hand, and the need to communicate new meanings on the other. When a museum building is represented in a way that no longer works according to its original purpose , and the need to present new and topical questions arises, these two aims may come into conflict with each other. A reinterpretation of the museum building makes it possible to present topics and stories of current interest, but in order to emphasize the message the building has to be physically adapted to a new historical context. In that case, an essential question will be how to balance preservation against adaption. In the article it is argued that preservation criteria ought to be decisive when evaluating the extent of physical changes that a museum building should be exposed to.