Overview

Adaptive reuse - the process of repairing and restoring existing buildings for new or continued use - is becoming an essential part of architectural practice. As mounting demographic, economic, and ecological challenges limit opportunities for new construction, architects increasingly focus on transforming and adapting existing buildings. This book introduces adaptive reuse as a new discipline. It provides students and professionals with the understanding and the tools they need to develop innovative and creative approaches, helping them to rethink and redesign existing buildings - a skill which is becoming more and more important. Part I outlines the history of adaptive reuse and explains the concepts and methods that lie behind new design processes and contemporary practice. Part II consists of a wide range of case studies, representing different time periods and strategies for intervention. Iconic adaptive reuse projects such as the Caixa Forum in Madrid and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam are discussed alongside less famous and spontaneous transformations such as the Kunsthaus Tacheles in Berlin, in addition to projects from Italy, Spain, Croatia, Belgium, Poland, and the USA. Featuring over 100 high-quality color illustrations, Adaptive Reuse of the Built Heritage is essential reading for students and professionals in architecture, interior design, heritage conservation, and urban planning.

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9781138062757

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Reviews

Retrofitting of the built environment is one of the most significant challenges for a sustainable future. This book is the result of a long-time effort to establish adaptive reuse as a discipline in its own right. Working with existing buildings has too often been regarded as a second-rate architectural task, the authors show compellingly that this is not the case. Adaptive Reuse of the Built Heritage differs positively from most other books on the subject. Where others are, most often, best-practice-oriented, technical or theoretical, this book combines theoretical approaches with practical tools, it covers philosophical and ethical questions and spans from conservation and restoration perspectives to design and aesthetics. I can heartily recommend this to anybody interested in the field. Prof. Ola Wetterberg, Department of Conservation, University of Gothenburg. Director of the Centre for Critical Heritage Studies.

Author Information

Bie Plevoets holds a PhD in architecture and works on theory of adaptive reuse in the research group Trace - Adaptive Reuse and Heritage in the Faculty of Architecture and Arts at Hasselt University, Belgium. She teaches courses on adaptive reuse at BA and MA levels. Koenraad Van Cleempoel is Professor of Art History in the Faculty of Architecture and Arts at Hasselt University, Belgium, where he is also a member of the research group Trace. He was previously holder of the Pieter Paul Rubens Chair at the University of California, Berkeley, USA.

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