Umbaukultur

-Conversion as an environmentally friendly alternative to new buildings -The new standard reference work in the field -Presentation and illustration of 30 pioneering case studies Conversion, adaptation, reuse - these techniques are as old as construction itself. However, since the industrialization of the building industry and the emergence of modernism in architecture, newly constructed buildings have dominated our idea of good and progressive architecture. For decades, conversion did not play a significant role in architectural practice. Today, things have changed. The industrialization of the construction industry has led to environmental degradation, and the reform potential of modernism has been exhausted. Consequently, the existing building stock is one of the resources - perhaps even the most important resource - for the transformation of our cities. Against this backdrop, the architecture of conversion has made an unexpected comeback. Young architects in particular are providing surprising answers to the environmental and social questions of our time with their conversion projects. This book introduces 30 examples that illustrate how seemingly everyday conversions can be turned into groundbreaking architecture, while eight essays shed light on the important role of conversion in history and the theory of architecture. With contributions by 51N4E, Arno Brandlhuber, Assemble, BeL, Bovenbouw, Christoph Grafe, Lacaton & Vasall, NL Architects, noA architecten, Muck Petzet, Tim Rieniets, de Vylder Vinck Tailieu, and many others.

This companion investigates the philosophical and theoretical foundations determining the conditions of possibility and the limits that make the conservation, readaptation, and transformation of past buildings legitimate operations. As increasing ecological and economic challenges question opportunities for new construction, the process of restoring, transforming, and readapting buildings for new or continued use is becoming an essential part of architectural practice. At the same time, the role of building conservation is changing from mere material preservation to being part of a broader strategy for social regeneration, eco-awareness, and inclusive urban planning. Chapters of this volume explore the complex set of considerations that inform decisions to merely preserve, accurately restore or variously reuse a building. They also look at the broader philosophical concerns such as ethical and aesthetic values, combined with ideas of heritage, history, and collective identity. Case studies on reconstruction after war, gentrification, the restoration of ancient edifices, reconstruction following the effects of climate change, and the use of technology solutions among many others, make this a timely and urgent volume. Adopting a broad transcultural perspective with contributions from five continents, the volume combines theoretical approaches with more practical, case study-based investigations and will be of great interest to upper-level students and academics working in the fields of architecture, conservation, urban design, aesthetics, and heritage management.

This ground-breaking Encyclopedia provides a nuanced overview of the key concepts of urban and regional planning and design. Embracing a broad understanding of planning and design within and beyond the professions, it examines what planners and designers can do in and for a community.

This book focuses on the relationship between the auto industry and the built environment at multiple scales, a topic of particular interest now as the industry is going through a period of major transformation. Drawing from multiple perspectives, including architecture, urban design and urban planning, the authors examine the changing form of the auto factory itself, the changing geography of auto production, and the challenges faced by communities as the auto plants that once brought them prosperity, and often a sense of identity, leave town. They examine four places that are dealing in different ways, and with varying success, with the aftermath of a decommissioned auto plant in their midst. These are Janesville, Wisconsin, and Willow Run, Michigan, in the U.S., and Bochum, Germany, and Genk, Belgium, in Europe. Together these four cases provide some clues about what the future might look like for places that were once intimately connected with the manufacture of cars.

Die von der Sto-Stiftung unterstützte Buchreihe „DesignBuild REFLECT" beleuchtet theoriebildende und projektübergreifende Fragestellungen der Lehr- und Lernmethode „DesignBuild“. Als erstes der auf vier Bücher angelegten Reihe ist nun „DesignBuild_joint perspectives“ erschienen. In diesem Buch erörtern die Autorinnen und Autoren eine gemeinsame DesignBuild-Hypothese anhand des Spannungsfeldes zwischen gesellschaftlicher Transformation, Architekturausbildung und -produktion. An der Schnittstelle zwischen akademischem und nicht-akademischem Umfeld verknüpfen DesignBuild-Projekte ganz verschiedene Sichtweisen: Sie verbinden Elfenbeinturm mit Baustelle, CAD-Zeichenprogramm mit Kreissäge, Studierende mit nicht-universitären Kollaborationspartnerinnen und Kollaborationspartnern. Sie agieren im Spannungsfeld von Praxis, Forschung und Lehre. Vor diesem Hintergrund legt das Publikationsprojekt DesignBuild_joint perspectives seinen Fokus auf eine kollektive Reflektion über DesignBuild als Methode in der Architekturausbildung durch zwei der zentralen Akteurinnen und Akteure: Lehrende und Lernende. Das Buch beleuchtet die persönliche und geschichtliche Bedeutung von DesignBuild sowie die Herausforderungen, die sich für die Autorinnen und Autoren aus Intention und Realität ergeben. Basierend auf den Arbeiten und ausgehend von den Betrachtungsebenen der Verfassenden – als Studierende beziehungsweise Lehrende – erarbeitet das Team eine „joint perspective“, also eine gemeinsame Perspektive. In ihrem Buch erörtern die Autorinnen und Autoren eine gemeinsame DesignBuild-Hypothese anhand des Spannungsfeldes zwischen gesellschaftlicher Transformation, Architekturausbildung und -produktion, in dem DesignBuild agiert, und übersetzen sie in eine joint-perspective-Matrix.

"This volume offers a rich spectrum of reflections on complex facets of the metropolis phenomenon: cultural identity, globalisation, demographic change and migration. They are complemented by a comprehensive retrospective of the history of international building exhibitions including observations made in hindsight and experience transfer."--BOOK JACKET.

Open City is the theme of the 4th International Architecture Biennial Rotterdam. ‘Open City: Designing Coexistence’ is the publication to accompany this international event, which will be held in Rotterdam from 24 September 2009 to 10 January 2010. The book demonstrates the crucial role that architecture and urban design can play to enable access and facilitate coexistence—to stimulate conditions for an Open City. Accessible city Today, the Open City is a tenuous notion; as our cities grow and diversify, social and cultural groups struggle to coexist, and make conflicting demands on the city’s resources. For many, the opportunities the city promizes are scarce, or unattainable. How can our cities provide access for all in this millenium?. Part 1: Dimensions The Open City does not have latitude or longitude, but it exists in our imagination. In Part 1, writers from different disciplines—sociology, ethnography, geography, law, history, economy, and urban design—map various theoretical dimensions of the Open City and consider the global forces that challenge it. Part 2: Situations The Open City is not a place, but a condition. It has no masterplan; each context requires a distinct approach. Part 2 of this book documents work by international architects, urban designers, and activists who were asked to initiate and implement projects for an Open City in urban situations that are currently in flux.

This issue of OASE examines how figurative architectural traditions can contribute to understanding historic dimensions that affect the everyday lives of contemporary Europeans, especially in the Netherlands, a place that has contributed to all forms of modernism and is at present involved in an uneasy and moralistic debate on its own traditions. Set against the background of artistic production in a highly eclectic age, the limited range of references explored by many architects and their focus on the forms and models of modernism produced after the 1920s, are remarkably interesting and compelling.