Revitalizing Buildings and Our Urban Heritage

Dear Colleagues,

Buildings inevitably grow old and become unfit for use, either because the purpose they once served is no longer needed or simply because they are falling apart. This is also true of whole industrial and urban areas. Mostly, such defunct buildings are torn down, while the precious few with heritage value are preserved in a museum-like state. However, throughout history, there has also existed a practice of revitalization of urban assets to perform new functions—adapting to the present while preserving the memory and legacy of the past. Various theories have emerged to inform how such adaptations should be undertaken, while numerous examples around the world and throughout history attest to the success or otherwise of these various approaches.

The adaptive reuse of buildings is an architectural intervention that has been explored incidentally in architectural texts, but, to date, the theoretical approaches, breadth of building reimagining, and exemplar cases have not yet been curated into a comprehensive text. This project aims to produce a definitive exploration of the phenomenon of rejuvenating old, derelict, and defunct building sites for contemporary use, with the goal of showcasing research undertaken in this area, the outcome being a welcome addition to architectural libraries.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Making the case for (or against) the adaptive reuse of buildings (financial, environmental, cultural, architectural considerations);
• Exploring the various theoretical models invoked in approaching building reuse/urban revitalization;
• Examining significant examples from the past (building use conversions, adaptations, remodeling, urban revitalization);
• Discussion of the cultural traditions (using single-nation examples or cross-border comparisons) that impact adaptive building reuse approaches;
• Assessments of how new uses can be served by old buildings;
• Detailed case analyses of specific adaptive reuse projects;
• Discussion on current and future trends of sustainability (building operations, construction management, design) with regard to heritage buildings/structures;
• Exploration of how building and/or urban revitalization have contributed to an urban transition (agendas, economy, climate, etc.);
• Policies and governance models related to revitalizing buildings or the built environment (through adaptation, adaptive reuse, redesign, rehabilitation, retrofitting, refit) as a sustainable practice;
• Measures/assessments of urban revitalization projects;
• Detailed case analyses of specific urban revitalization projects at a large scale (addressing key areas/issues such as urbanization, urban environment, urban housing).

We expect to attract studies from across the globe, and it is evident that a wide range of political, cultural, financial, and practical considerations has informed the approach to the reuse of old buildings, generating vastly different outcomes. For example, in Australia, the practice of ‘facadism’ becomes a common excuse to heritage sensitivity, where the shell (outward appearance) of heritage buildings might be retained, while their use is converted to serve a more banal function, such as to contain coffee shops. Meanwhile, in Japan, centuries-old temples have been upgraded with aluminum-framed windows in order to better serve the monks pursuing age-old traditions. In Italy, Roman ruins are maintained to preserve the memory of the land’s former grandeur, while the Cultural Revolution of China made a point of destroying as much of its Imperial legacy as could be managed. Given these diverse perspectives and approaches, it is our hope that this collection of studies will bring together broader social considerations as well as detailed, practical insights into how to better manage historical buildings and formations. We welcome the submission of papers focusing on these discussions in relation to single buildings as well as extended urban areas.

Dr. Igor Martek
Dr. Mehdi Amirkhani
Dr. Chayakan Siamphukdee
Topic Editors