incarnation

An incarnation is a phase in a structure's existence which describes how it appeared or was used, managed, etc. within a particular time frame. Incarnations are most commonly used to represent structures before or after renovations, recladdings, gut rehabilitations, or redesigns.

The period can be distinguished by appearance, use, or management. A major physical alteration is one common reason for a new phase, but the temporal description is not limited to construction work.

A physical addition identifies an attached later section. An incarnation instead describes the object during a particular span of its history.