Part two The adaptive eA y=) toolkit Peet land st” means that this industry belongs Maybe you or your family members have Mee uC crear La Te eed hal PACS feel this energy in the air. Part the collective memory of what eu rc ee ey Pee ead oroduetion, housing, and even agri- Bree tur a tl rtd Bec me Pee is Pte ee cc een) otc industrial past and dares to imagine future for its legacy. No matter if es un) ee ee Pe OCCe cP uN err become part of your community's future, Pier sta American cities faced unprecedented Ore er spaces. They did it without the safety pee Tote ua) stat dita Ce ne UL ee tk eee oA cities can rely on arich historical Pee ent ee cer ors higher mobility within the United States eee eter oa eee ete eR Sect ee Cuku ett cy eri ee ec Deut Ct Peete tira gocur) Pe ay it outlines some specific features of adaptive reuse projects in North Pu su Td Peete i mcr and US practitioners in making adaptive Peer tre ern tee oC Wd Pere ie ces into an existing container (building, TO eI CY CU UC elit Pee renee Lad Eee eet adapting the content to the container PRT at Dr Cul POU Te CUM uot ia) approach to reuse: instead of keeping what still fits, you make fit so that you Cee Cia (Se Mec ee Le my Cte cce tet nent) reconstruction for a number of reasons. Ty industrial legacy is part of the urban oO Ld Ay and structures. It draws investment, Re Cera cate) and freedom of use offered by existing industrial buildings. Reuse is better ES Seg building is the one thatis already built.” GU ae URC tl Pee cera eh i pastto its future, and offering cheap Cur eri] OO OR CC a urety PsExplore | possibilities Deindustrialzation leaves cities with a larg ‘opportunities. To minimize equited re appropriate infrastructure or building to reuse, This phase is important to build community awareness around potential ‘opportunities, but there needs to be some structure to support this exploration Cites should keep track of private and public assets and their current status in order to prevent bight and promote reuse. In Pittsburgh, the Urban Redevelopment Authorty constantly Updates an online map of vacant properties based on tax fore- closures. Any individual, local group, entyepreneur or developer ly browse it to select opportunities for reuse and rede~ velopment projects. In 2014, The Detroit Bight Removal Task Force produced a similar on-line dynamic too, the Motor Cty Mapping, itis the result ofa mix of public authority data as tax foreclosures and a web-based collaborative assessment named blexting”in which anyone could contribute with phatas and data to bulld.a complete and an accurate knowledge ofthe city’s 280,217 vacant properties, These examples show that blending “cold” kno: public databases with "warm" local experience supported by ‘pen source or free web-based tools is enormously effective. ‘The possibilty of constant improvement and update, the availabilty on portable devices, and the possiblity of adsing other relevant ge0-referes data layers offer unprecedented twansparency and knowledge to ty actors at all levels, This bridges the historical gap between city planners and on-t ‘ground cltizens. Mappingin tselfcan become a tak that aggregates community energy around arouse project, Urban explorers allover the world often break into abandoned industrial sites to explore them and share ther knowledge through socil media Participatory tools such as urban transect walks can be used not oniy to map but also to raise awareness and pron carrm'tment in local communities, For example, the celebrated High Line @ in New York ity was saved by a bottom-up action by local activsts—the “Friends of The High Line"—that fought in court against scheduled demolition but also promoted ‘community and heritage walks on the abandoned raiway to win supportAssess potential ‘Any abandoned industrial area or building hasits peculiar ‘eatures. Before fling under the spell of your industria! icon and investing large amounts of time and enerey ina reuse project—itis important to understand what Its specific positive and negative features are and how they can influence the reuse process. Successful projects visited during this research were allbased on a deep understanding ofthe existing market reality and clear preliminary strategic choices Fist, one must chose the right place. Location plays a central tole in reuse as in any cty-making process, Location includes accessibility, connections, services, neighboring areas, visibility, and views. Al these factors are incorporated in site and have to be carefully weighed in advance, Some ofthese factors might be potential negative influences, while others will provide postive ‘ones. Bakery Square @is along a main city axis, near exiting public ranspor, between deprived and wealthy neighborhoods. Russell Industrial Center @ is near an important highway Junction, andi therefore visible and accessible tothe larger public. The Plant @ might seem to be in the middie of nowhere, ina place where lands cheap enough o experiment, butts Justa quarter ofan hour by car from Downtown Chicago and a {en-minute walking distance from two main bus lines. Second, comes the determination of the appropriate scale of intervention. Context and goals define the right sie and form of projocts, Where property i fragmented and multiple small actors willbe engaged in along-term incremental statogy, reuse wil bea sortof “urban acupuncture” by tenths of square feet asin Corktown @ orin Fishtown, @ Where assets have asingle ‘owner and investor, you can foresee massive engagement in steps measurable in actes, ae at the Packard Pant. @ Where the foals the extensive and complete reuse of awhole part of the tity, reuse will assume the form of a comprehensive area master pian, as tthe Navy Yard @ in Philadelphia, Where reuse should be the catalyst of a more general regeneration process, a slong the Monongahela, @ ine as thin as a walking and biking lane is enough to reconnect and revive different sites over an sextended region offer opportunities or their reuse. Load beariligd@bacity = \what makes old multi-story industrial buldings attractive for artists and makers. Serial spaces can be easly portioned 0 ‘itusers as diferent as Google and the local artist. Small plots se perfect for incremental reuse elther at urban scale—a8, in Pittsburgh's Penn Avenue@® regenération—but also lage paces can be reused by inserting small scale sub-structres| forrmltiple users, such asthe foad stalls at Union Market in Washington D.C, the former foad delivery hub ofthe capital ‘tat has become a destination for fosies and will soon be at the cove of an ambitious redevelopment plan. Large spans can accommodate new forms of working andlor living igh clings ‘can host oversized ator industrial production, but also alow the: insertion of minor volumes and intermediate spaces suchas the Urban Outfitters headquarters at the Navy Yard;@ bridgecranes “tat once lifted raw steel beams can now lft high-tech bu still heavy machinery at Carnegie Robotics. © Fourth, the art of inking a contempprary story to a powertl rmemary-in most industrial cities, evi identity has been shaped ‘tough and by industrialization, which involves a constant ‘process of creative destruction, innovation, economic gronth, “hie can the potent of exiting structures eaxacinizad? ne Soteaatcteycinteraandagnve Assos potent‘and social change that are the ingredients ofa legacy that can sustain new narratives. Pttsburgh-born Andy Warhol in 1962, labeled his New York City creative piatform experiment "The Factory’—and located it ina former frenouse in East Midtown Manhattan, with no heat or running water. Nearly athe places. visited for this research openly link the future tothe past by - reusing an industria legacy. Ther communication uses industrial Imagery, adopts vintage graphics, echoes factory culture in slogans and style, and offers a reconstruction ofthe past history and often a photographic archive enriched with interviews and) crginal documents, At the same time, potential can also be negative and even turn Into hazard, A site could be polluted; clean-up might prove an Uncustainable burden for any reuse project since inexpensive space isa key factor inthe reuse procese—Warhol rented the Factory for one hundred dolas per year. Nonetheless, regulatory burdens in both the United States and Europe often discourage reuse in sites that have been contaminated. Decontamination ean and has to be incorporated in the reuse process—for instance, by defining a development timeline tat allows the use of slower but cheaper techniques such as phytoremediation, or by laying out new uses according tothe cleaning requirements imposed on existing spaces, as was the case inthe Navy Yard @ ‘master planning. if communicated wall organizes can even fenerate rolated public funding for decontamination. To get a preliminary undecstanding of contamination from past proctuction processes, ical knowledge by retired workers or ‘elgnbors can prove useful, and can be easily collected through interviews, focus groups, and public walks, This collection of local knowledge is alsoan opportunity to reconnect to the history and culture of aplace, To evaluate its possible impact at the preliminary stage, technical support to communities and local governments by eternal bodies such asthe US EPA can be agreat resource when no previous assessment or general ‘mapping has been carried out.Envision the future \What attracts users, residents, entrepreneurs, innovators, and eventualy investors to reuse projects fs 2 compelling postive Vision of the future rooted in the past. This positive projection of legacy into futureis nat exclusive to post industrial ities: itis inherent to physical permanence and the living continulty ofall cities and urban communities. in industrial cites, the ‘predominance of a recent, homogeneous, and pervasive past ‘over any other identity layer just makes this process clearer than elsewhere, Industrial cities and communities have often endured along Period of negative narratives: decline, bight, unemployment ‘The future was uncertain and davk-—ae it was for New York City from the 19705 to the 1990s, when the city's story was industrial dectine, economic stagnation, white and middle class fight, and crime. Industrial legacy oft brought clean-up and demolition costs: Visit the Pittsburgh Technology Center alang the Monongahela, jeveloned by the Regional industrial Development Corporatio (®00}in the 1990s, and you'l see no trace ofits previous use "either on the site nor inthe architecture, Reuse was simply not on the agenda. No potential was geen in the industrial material legacy Often sites were cleared and cleaned before any redevelopment project was in sight it wae simply a way to move anead in the redevelopment schedule. But even ifthe Texas- based shareholders of Shinola @ decided to settle in Detroit atter visting available vacant space in the very core of Midtown, wnat brought peopie like the current president Jacques Panis toDetroit was more than the possibilty of having vast space forfttle money, It was the possibilty of revving a mythology of ‘smerican industry and marketing it. Material and immaterial acy were equaly relevant and the Argonaut building (today: | Alfred Taubman Canter for Design Education) significantly ‘embodied both, Shinola adaptive reuse was the ight way to link this rich legacy to profound trends in society and consumption Being at the Argonaut connects Shinolato the desire for wel: designed, careful crated, robust, and durable goods ike the best American cars in the 19508 and 1960s. Being in Detroit 15 shows Shinola's corimtment to socially responsible produc ton madera rete bein dope cman No new butdngeous ce hori Notall visions fit all places: East Market in DeWRMHE the natural location for food innovation, as Union Market @ isin Washington 3 0, but both would peorly brand as"tech* places. The Plant @ 10 isabout feeding the city—as industrialzed mestpacking was in the same district around 1900; John Ede!’s previous project, the (Chicago Sustainable Manufacturing Center afew blocks away in the same.area,builis on a different narrative—one of production innovation—but stil rocted in the place. Building an appropriate vision thus requires linking the existing infrastructure and ts potential to local and global large-scale tends and challenges. Renewed attraction for urban ie, exter family structures, etc, ae general drivers you can explore in creating a vision fora site. What do people want? What do people love? What do they fear? What do they dream of? ‘You can look for evidence in research and references, and draw inspiration from examples and comparables. Youhave to root this tothe specifi place you are working on, and include its legacy in your vision: project future onto the past, buld the future upon the past. Its better tobe foolish than reasonable visionaries always are. active life expectancy, attention to qualty food, newInvolve partners noth aspect all projects visited have in common isa kind snowball effect” or the capability of attracting forces and gaining momentum while running. might simply be something that happens, asin the incremental regeneration of the Strip District @in Pittsburgh or te attraction of activities at Russel Industral Center, @ or tat is designed purposefully asin the redevelopment of Packard. @ Successful projects have to be able to convince early adopters—star-us, artista, innovators, creative businesses, young farilies and users—and weleome established joiners—big firme, universities, major investors, middle-class wealthier residents Todd Reiabord's key to successful reuse of the Bakery Square @ was his bility to build a broad and inclusive “growth ‘altion.”" Bakery Square effectively partnered with public bodies—the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh (URA) the Housing Finance Agency the Building Trades Union Pension Funds of Western Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development-—and % 18 ino local community the planing process though regular publ hearing and ratings a process that ook about thee yar, hae atacted pit uly om Wat Capitaland RS Longview Fund and gad brlminay ieee om ig players sn a8 Googe no, UPC Techoley Devlopmert Cente the Univers of tsburgh Department ofehabitatin Sconces, an the Vans admintaton MluranEngnesing Research Laborato and etablshed brands suchas Mart and Antnopotg, Most portant hen Googe asked Ted to doublets capacity he could eh on the eabtohe private pb partnrenp gan theo county's an choo dtc appro obuy an abandoned ‘choo Buln buitn the 1705) aro Penn Aree. The baling was torn downto bul tho Euler exten lurching thesezord phate ofthe projet. The na bling wil be inked by a pdesran bilge overt ent ary Sqare 20 doubles the projets capac inverter and number of nhs created and dversies the ction by invading rowsigandearions, In poste excharge between top-down planing and batt Upinities,rassots projets uch are community gardens oattam set Commons ina sie sea of enn frerue econ tothe picture, Teroragiges occpy 2 (acantlet and unused proper aor ‘ane thatregeneraton processes vil ot eden behind Along Penn Avenue, los cleared ve tx foreclosures and abandoned hoes ar bongreuse for opera puble tr projects and vacant shops are on ve tocommunty tervco sucha tit hops and cd caro start tobe ecu by rend ete, The invoivernert of partner at al sates isinheren to Inue projctana wy that rg urkonr in gon Gevlopnt. Rouse haprena in exving urban space. re then aplaceis banded theres acommurty around Theft of existing cee mobize opinion agers, decison rake possible donors, ptetal iver and meda, Tees places ace the as and lack of ees andes, tet tno heed oe excuse: nan abandoned ory or dutta, theres ual rom fr more than ent and ised ues ut vets, vty and reience to poeta Sharing Se ncorporate noe Ges procees by wig community vig els and by taking advantage ofthe fact hat pace ad space ae aeacy tere Oreste pomete a deopr und Standingof tho stein partiparts generate hard creatty from reaction ote ite and show tatreuseis ready gpng onColonize the Bring people to your space as soon as itis feasible to do so, Thisisa practice rooted in the very early phases of adaptive reuse, when itwas.a bottom-up practice promoted by marginal communities seeking cheap or fee space and saving spaces nobody was interested in. Adaptive reuse is a tactic that occ pies abandoned spaces, as squatters often dia in the 1970s in Cities such as London and New York. Colonization can start from soratch and atthe very beginning ofa reuse process: street art painting and temporary events are enough to open the way ‘Somme uses might be feasible now, some later; some users ‘could be "early adopters" that give way to more establish tenants later—or become more established themselves, Informalty can stimulate experiments, especially inthe early ‘phases. The challenge of winning back derelict iconic spaces ‘can mobilize local and urban communities. Reuse of Russel Industrial Center @ started with the ‘People’s Art Festival organizes by The Russel Center for Crate rs anon pot vier ea art erate veut suid bythe devotees Tegroup'sconmuniton and rege expt refered an appealed to rean of” cture tein ont oF rusee py alu ght anges oot hina byavect ats tobeSlonon roar res Suet artes 2 wtinglon-oet way Roping th ase Maret vel tive and straciv even tous woe yours The aes becoming ly atu tt where set oo ana fang) restaurants vat galerie and restertal tsa the 2015 wrasin the Maret pula etal contbute tthe process ie ontmuinga se yours. InWasington 3, the org inst te capt ‘ees ld aroutes and dots as cteingnfastucre “he eas allenary nator an hs topes inthe a sal th non seta eaon whe ood hasbeen he cite bushes for moran 200 yeas wllcon Become the anchor ofa huge ved deelopmnt that promes th creation 23000 new job noth eae el entae developer sped grates earned fom undergouns bracts to reste x sens lay alia destaton tet atvactneress, rand the st andcreate va tough Dlceang This ina process tht reas oan sal iaumsieniy arog cma are Someries igh abs he carvan rll where al state pressrls Nght outboard aoa subto way spare pneion~althoghore shout eget pes ike Grose inte ork yo Shoreitch noon wee dere eiy want ears ago utin te acs evi no scoromie value asin oft when aconating state ough ara eaturary adopters and sad nesters woe caring enough tobe cn ptces and vos tray wel ave Shrasad a ual Inaclon evenFeuoess as eventual toc ay auopters tome thee vilaaye be ror enough or now Sxpermentsinoestnatal es Trough ana pre Supported byte Kea Foundation, ett based Young arotest har O Geen turing aaron detach noses ofthe nocgclesogrborhood Kiger @ iar ori ate es trat' ra suash hal HS ines are sbandonehouses pasonateelutees sa iat, cornu orgagoment an preonal commie Feats rove that ratty can tert eponerton even vere youvouleat expect hapoaran ney Dlehtod greet oterocess has been starled—the abandoned trial site has been explored and assessed, anew vision has been shared, a network of partners committed to its revitalization s active, and colorization nas started by early ‘adopters, temporary uses, and events--a more comprehensive design aproach is necessary to create concept tat fits them. To undertake this sep, you need aclear understanding’af what is specific to reuse planning and design, When you pian new, you start froma urban scheme accordingly. When you reuse and adapt, you start from specifi site conditions and infrastructure and create a concept that fits ther. inthe early steps, an open concept is conducive to reuse: framed by a clear and bold vision, keeping goals relatively loose can attract new and unexpected players, allow for incremental development, and keep the process open, flexible, and reversible. This is something major top-down ‘developments such asthe Navy Yard @ or Bakery Square have in common with minor bottom-up regeneration like in CCorktown @ or Penn Avenue. @ in most cases, planning can be useful after reuse processas have started, in order to sustain them, seale them up, and include them in a ner uroan vision Inthe United States—as in Europe—up until the ate 1990s, industrial infrastructure was assumed to be an obstacle that uid be removed. Pittsburgh offers clear examples, The ‘agenda ofits urban redevelopment authority focused on Clearing brownfield sites and then cleaning them up, of ‘any sold redevelooment plan. Project ike Pittsburgh Technology Genter show how the existing str tures ofthe Jones and Laughlin Steel Company, constructed ely demolished in 1883 to give way to tech campus. twas only in 2007 that the redevelopment authority launched a densification scheme toinject new energy into the location, and the only surviving infrastructure, the hot metal bridge, which eignaly carried Crucibies of molten ron from the bast furnaces to the open hearth furnaces on the opposite bank to be corwerted to steel, was restored as a pedestrian and bicycle bridge leept and draw up an 16 ‘men you design for reuse, you are ina completely diferent mindsat, Place is already there, encumbered by existing structures, sometimes polluted, alwaye loaded with dens ‘memories, old pride, and new hopes, and often without any actual economic value. In rouse the potential of the sites central partof the concept. The ivan situation-—locaton, ps of this toolkit. reuse wil existing buildings, ste specific assets ar isthe starting point, as we saw in the fists Instead of being an obstacle, itis the frame in w happen and which will make reuse possible. Tomake the most ofthis potential the reuse project has to find the best mutual adaptatior This rings us tothe core of successful adaptive reuses: an effective distribution of activities and spaces within and arourd the existing adapted container. Regardiess of their date of co struction, indusvial sites were designed to make fs of workers, energy materials, and products as lean and efficient as possite The freedom of arrangement that industrial space offers is an ‘exceptional resource that should be designed to: te common space. The size and scale of space offers the possibilty to create amazingiinternal covered streets, equares, lvated wakways, staircases, and ramps that connect areas and levels, nultply access possiblities, and caparcommedate shared services and faces, Adaptive reonfitien spaces should be clear, generous, and spectacular, tang advantage of "unique possibile of oversize structures 2.Wrap functions according to ther size and comfort needs Requirements for new uses do not match the original rough Sn use, users, and spaces ess of industrial production sub.valumes inserted within the primary container can easily accommodate new uses, satiaty their needs and avoid unnecessary energy consumption, while offeringan exceptional char for creative arrangements which ance the individual character of each use. 8. Save space for further reuse, The redundancy of space is the ‘most effective form of future flexibiity, and some parts should be preserved for unexpected growth or new activities, Saturation deprives adaptive reuse ofits most interesting feature: the ability toevole in time, Many ofthe sites visited by the author had a specif adap- tive reuse aesthetic and similar design tactics, Fer example, the Urban Outfitters headquarters at the Navy Yard @ in 1 Phitadeiphia, which was fully professionally designed, has smaller"boxes" which occupy the large dock buildings thereby confining the usable environments and allowing the structure to comfort requirements without requiring general heatingofthe huge, tiple-height hals. Examples ike the main Nabisco building at Bakery Square @ or the infill housing schemes of Crionfits @in Pitadelphia, which are all LEED certified to high environmental standards, provide futher evidence that smart reuse design can revive existing industrial etructures and reach top energetic performances and comfort standards. Elements ‘hat are usualy hidden in hil builsings ke pipes, wires, cables, Panes, or shades, can be openly integrated into a post-industia! ‘aesthetic that simples construction and reduces cost Layering styles gives a tasteful vintage look and also avoids Unnecessary fnishings. Huge graphiee define bold urban immage—and are also the cheapest way to brand a blind wall ‘Thus, industrial pearance is part ofthe charm of reused places but also sets the stage for low-cost construction techs igus. Oversize buildings and infrastructure can be “frozen” and landscaped for extensive leisure and open-air uses, asthe inspiring example of the German Ruhr Emecher Park coal and steel district successfully proves Furthermore, condernned parts and structures can become raw ‘materials and ready-made details for aiginal design medieye that incorporate old pieces into new settings—in interiors, ike at Russel Industrial Center @ or Camogie Parte Thesdoptie ese tlt landscaping atthe Navy Yard: @ a labor intensive procedure that can become a businoce in itself Rebull Exchange @ in Chicago has diverted 10,000 tons of building materials trom the 'sndil, made over two milion dollars worth of quality materials available for reuse, and hited eighty-two people with bariers to employment sinwe 2009,Placemaking and funding Funding of reuse projects can also benefit from the inherent incremental structure of the reuse process, The existing infras tructure can be progressively activated without requiring large amounts of unding in the eaty steps of placemaking. Community events, cultural festivals, art installations, and temporary markets are all activities that can be organized by orwith bottom-up players to temporarly cceupy exiting assets. Oneneeds only the carrying the costs of making the site ancescible and safe on the best preserved parts ofa ste, whi other parts 2an await the larger budgets needed for fll Early and partial occupation already creates a postive micro ‘rowefunding, donations al economy ofrents, Fes, ticket and initial maintenance work organizational resources that willbe precious forthe falowing, phases anddraws attention to formerly forgotten places, reby creating value through placemaking. Public funding is often availble to support the very early phases of reuse procesees, This happens through emall seed ‘ants handed to local players. During my talks with NPS and PA oficersin W: 1s clear that both Bodies pay attention tocommunity engagement. Fede rot enttledto local action unless direct called in by cities or communities—they otherwise risk violating state power. For the EPA, the lackluster results ofthe so-called "Superfund launched inthe 1980~a top-down program that involved huge sums of money-—nas led to an alternative approach that mainly prizes bottom-up actions Projects start with small grants and technical support and adopt a holistic approach that sees cleanup as part of more general sustainable redevelopment, At the EPA, they cll this "work with the wiling” No matter who takes the intiative—a local committee, a determined mayor, a neighborhood group, a school director—the EPA provides on demand technical advice and seed grants to loca actors, ‘ter the eaty colonization phases, large reuse projects often require private-pubic partnership ang becom eligible for ‘more extensive public funding. n an age of shrinking public budgets on both sides ofthe Alantic, tis important to understand how this can be dane. While in Europe there is still a solid belie that the state or the European Union should extensively fund urban regeneration through general grants, as, was the case for decades, from post-war reconstruction until the 19908, the projects visited inthe United States prove that public funding can be more effective iftargeted a earlier phases and provided as aloan or lax rect rather than asa grant Public funding works as sed investment in the most delicate phase ofa redevelopment process, when the risks higher {and private funding cannct yet be guaranteed by mortgages, and is clearly relate to priate beneficiaries’ achievement of agreed and measurable goals of general interest such as heritage preservation steremediation and environmental improvernent, public trangpart and sustainable mobility, and rater management. This becomes clear when axamining the funding for a success ful private-publicpartrerssip project such as Bakery Square @ 6 in Pattsburgn. Direct public funding (rants) was modest, comprising only six percert of total funding. t compensated preservation—managed attne federal evel by the National Park Service—and brownfield cleanup funding from the EPA (inform ‘ofa taxincentive until 2011 afterwards as a revolving loan) make the difference by encouraging pre m ation over demaliton and ‘sustahing brownie rather than greenfield developmentWithout exception all ofthe adaptive reuse projects visited have somebody leading and running them: no matter whether ‘community or business leader, a professional manager, ‘ran activist volunteering his/her time. Adaptive reuse is a long:term process of evolution rather than a pre-set project ‘most processes see ther goals change completely along, the way. Even at lager sites wit more established in institutional partnerships, and structured strategies, that these rasp opt net uncertainty Tose process through and take advantage of pportunitias, an ora team. Ofte, steeringis moe important for a successful je than design. Ths role always includes more tasks than uld be included in a standard development o facility ‘management. The makers of euse should create a story they are able to transmit to others in order to involve them. This narrative appears tobe the most effective tool to steara complex, n,and pluralistic process, Each new sale, tenant, user, visitor, each event, each new achievomnt hast fitin and add tothe stor Public events, preee, and actrang digital presont id cisserninate this story while building a virtual community around the reuse process and the real community irvolved in it. Asuccessful reuse process often means that some of th Preliminary assumptions have tobe reviewed on the run, for instance by intensifying some spaces or redefining some uses, A success reuse brings in new players who add new layers to the story and change the needs and goals ofthe projectitee he abundance of key resource inthis evolutionary process. Reuse can profit from redundancy to allow future ‘expansion of activities and uses within existing frames, This innerenty ncremertal and evolutive structure is what makes leven the most daring reuse schemes feasible and reasonable None ofthe reuse processes observed during the author’ vi uid be considered concluded. Within the fepoag of reused ‘factories, acres of built space were ctillavalleBladtound reused industri sites, more areas awaited reclamatl@h. Broun ebuit propertios in industrial neighborhoods, boarded buildings and foreclosed plots were available for the ones wishing to joinin. simple tour (even virtual) within and around the areas described would reveal the potential ill awaiting tobe activated and tne tunately, industrial ‘mostly well made and can wait many years for reuse. of infrastructure, community, and place Japtive reuse projects long-term tasks offering bath ly short-term outputs and lasting benefits to cities, This toolkit shows the high degree of value that adaptive reuse can provide, and the process that individuals shoulé ge through when considering reuse ofan industila site, Because adap- tive reuse i an evalution, the eightstep path described here ‘can often be relevant several times forthe same site fram exploration to evolution to reclaim more space, welcome new users, and re-adapt what was already adapted,eel ami =) Adaptive CIES) architecture ? Dee ere aud infrastructure that has lost the function itwas designed for, by adapting it tonew ee een ee ath ed Dee Ithas been the prevalent mode of building for generations, it will be the prevalent mode of building for the years. isi ew tee Coeur La) Be Re Cu} Dru AUR enced PT Er) Sree unt ee eS cey inherently non-hierarchical and additive, Due Ceara Re ee aac CMe oe PUT oy PO ea Se eur us Cee tra Nee erie ines Pe neither) ST Ce oT PO Cin rien ‘superpositions, and grafts. Its energy is drawn from the plurality of forces that eee Che cata hcace at ree a err hie from its openness to time—to the past, Pu cee noOld is the Processes of adaptive reuse ofthe industrial legacy of les and theirarchtectural outputs are reminder ofthe proper tletonshp between architecture and society n conta new new. tothe concept ofinovaton supoeetly being produced by ° formal ana tecricl pre : ° reuse experiences show thatinnovation's the recut of Architecture enduring social practices that are generate incependenty each ther fl ptertiaifinterpeted a enhanced by architecture and the ada tive It might seer contradictory toload afi social practice tke acapive ruse vith the burdens of categories and abet Nevertheless come tals deserve tobe outned inode reuse of industrial sicamachanyelctnaesetete legacy ~ Whatis adaptive reuse? New ideas must use old buildings ‘The current definition of adaptive reuse: "the process of Jane Jacebs, reusing an oe site or building fora purpos was built or designed for"? hand alows for theintsacton of bei intercton and oc ag tha utty-and tctrat detormrism india actin the Ars de ote propose a dcubl genalogy of th corcestin. beacon the arly '=geney andr‘This definition at the same time too extensive and too restrictive Its too extensive because it could well define any reuse practice, without distinction, therefore making the adjective “adaptive” redundant. Derived from adaptation: thisis on the contrary the most important word in the term. has a powerful oot in natural philosophy and natural sciences, ‘expands the idea of adaptation asthe way Ife assumes Change and reacts to crises to architecture. Charles Darwin's Idea of evolution a the “survival ofthe fittest™ was not an acknowledgment of sheer reproductive strength, Stephen Jay Could explains it rather as “improved design’ the fact of boing to quote the exact definition by Darwin—"batter designed for an immediate, local environment. Adaptive reuse in architecture cau be also described asthe “improved design’ reaction to critical change in a“ocal environment”— like for instance, the loss of the erginal function of factories in eindustralization processes—profiting rom immadiate” environmental advantageous conditions—lke, fer instance, the availablity of cheap, large, and robust spazes in central oraccessie locations The forme of adaptation depend on ‘the specific context and conditions and change overtime, and cannot be described without reference tothe situation in which they happen. We could not otherwise understand what a reuse was adapting to, and could not evaluate how effectively adaptive” areuse was: the idea af adaptation implies also succession of limited changes rather than asingle major ‘eeponabl forthe rare of Parvin’ conce frau to soe and 1 sersion rom adaption to comaetton Dern inknauces Spencers cgressenin te erection of Onthe Orns of pecs, ese in 868 Fo "renga Jory Fodor and Misano Pata Pena 20, aural sleton has recirortly ben ued a asain cena piicl sgordzs anscompetine vsionsofsciey Peter gern le 989 Gock A Darian Lf Fates Eatin and Gaperationpreese 6 Thenatonefacorespanderce between at and ariectur andi Syleand Postagem peflauatainkm! See his 183 essay Towards clsruption, and a frugal economy cf means rather than a show offorce. itis too restrictive in three ways. omits infrastructures thatarea key ingredient ofthe indsrial city. It assumes that the building or site or infastructuras has to be “old which is rot necessary: to be “re-used, ithas simply to have already existed. It requires a change in pursose; what isnecessary is the interuption and not necessary a change inthe purpose, Secietal change in cities today, unlike inthe 20th century, is traceable inthe invinic transforration of uses and activities rather than in their simple substitution: additive manufacturing is reshaping production; cooperative consumption and online purchase are reshaping retail ICTs reshaping office and work organization; of sl cultivation is reshaping agriculture; demography and Iifestyles are reshaping housing. By excluding mutated forms ofthe same purpose forthe sake of last centu- 1's labels, we would miss a great ceal of the mast interesting ongoing social and economic innovation. propose therefore a definition of adantive reuse as the process of reusing an existing site, building or infrastructure that nas lost the function itwas designed fer, by adapting it to new requirements and uses with mineral yet transformative means, The tale of adaptive reuse “The canonic tale of adaptive reuse begins in Manhattan in 053, with young Robert Rauschenberg who, coming back to New York City after touring North Atreaand Europe with Cy Twombly “found aft” in 6t Fulton Street or the Lower East Side.’ By dwelling in 19th ard early 20th century industrial buildngs—at {the time Manhattan was tila place of production—artists were weady to ade substandard living and working conditions for raw but large ree bright, cheap space associated with the strong. 7 Tetit to reconstruct the tory of ares and abandoned buts and ‘alzothe ccs cull anc exonomiorete ad consaausncis the ot este" was Sharon Zin inher nf 962 boo aft Lng Cultue ac Captalin urban Crag Varina Baum ans Kate Chrtzaro oc) inthar 2otbeok ya Loh Adve rues source er Sitti ban Develaonentertnd the conapt oft theurban sale tds 2 ‘eae ofthe bug, to provide conpictethecaia andar account ofthe studiitselt—more than was to become the canter identity of pa of gravity in th ingly incorporated inthe meaning of artworks. he loft as the scene of production was the perfect for this new season that ater peaked in Andy Warhol’ in Midtown between 1982 and 1968—his rent amounted to 1 hundred dollars per year. rwittingly, they were not only revolutionizing art and habits, bt also inaugurating what ‘Sharon Zukin named the "Artistic Mode of Production" (AMP) ‘the use of art by real estate developers asthe key ng ‘and performance ina market strategy for repricing declined ateas a new demands for authenticity and urbanity, An ancient Sa word root refering to light, ft and air (Norsk opt, German Luft, Dutch luc), which had survived only 2s term fora rural hayloft, was revived to brand this process as “ot Iiftestye rapidly turning an avant-garde posture into a lucrative new real estate business, Rauschenberg was an “early adopter” fond of having his studio among warehouses, docks, and workshops. His move was yeneration process that would soon make space unafl production—and eventually forthe same creative community that “Found In the same years, the New York City of ‘aged buildings was gered by “Bull old infrastructural and Urban renewal projects Jane Jacobs was to bets safeguard.” ‘nd Fonte the Amicon Gt: Risin Moses rors bicgraphars (i, Robert Groin The omer rar eer esto Jacobs Apparently against al edds, David knocked out Golath—with alto helo from the new taste for “authenticity” umber of loft lovers tat made lot iving a successful mainstream trend. The first lott users were sued) -omplying with building codes and zoning rules. Adecade lates in the ealy 70s, Chestor Rapkin had turned his sacilogical 2 in the area south of Houston Street inrecenty tured the themes of aft Lng telnet Inngin te house and oganising sao. Ta ue tte art ater abaninto a comprehensive preservation pian on behalf of Mayor LUndsay and invented a new destination, “SoHo” The first 2ssociations for industial heritage were formed, Developers had both a new successfulreal estate commodity to market and a powerful tool ta ravive dangerous and marginal districts Artists sted their oun tenants' association to fight evictions and rising prices —rents were capped and imorovements imposed by the 1982 Loft Law. The term “gentrification” was coined to describe the paradox of early adapters” being cisplaced by the inerease in value they had generated: Allofthe ingredients of a powerful narrative ae already there ‘The creative class inventing new lifestyles. People against power David against Goliath, Makers reusing places where things were fermerty made. light in central locations converted into new forms of urban liveliness, Sohemia and market. Spontaneity ‘and planning, Bottom-up and top-down, Formal ang informal Preservation and modernization. Authenticity and falsification. Avant-garde and heritage. Artists, anarchists, activists, archi tects, speculators, and technocrats Bricoleurs and engineers. The sarme narrative was staged in London and Paris in the mig +19703,in Amsterdam and Bein in the early 1980s, in Madrid, Lisbon and Barcelona after the 2008 rel estate crash and in Boling and Shanghalin tho late 2000s, ach eeenactmenthas its own story, but the key spatial ingredients and features were already in place in 1953 in New ‘York City: gener, sera, robust, oversized, existing spac repurposed for new uses with minimal effort and low cost tactics; non-professional communities appropriating assets cout of reed and turning their temporary market inefficiency into new economic value. Low threshold accessibility ta space followed by arisen value thanks to their cultural capital, gocil networks, and symeoaie ska” by deeopers—A0 angie retested delgmant tee sult cpposng the upgrade of Ryle eght in Loe Aris cine he ten rtuaeng todefme't earcete Jonathan Jone rasrtedin The Guaran ‘capt ever andvelatond and cuts apt auction, langage enemporsy an scat, sha tres capita fos ractonaly sere snnoitbe sre n uneven cortaations Raber Puna itereation —_— The separation of old from new \Whatis interesting in squats and loftsis that they bring Innovation where we would expect conservation. They make ew inside the old, They hybridize the new with the old. They challenge the origin myth ofthe primitive hut™—the version of the frst dwelling architecture treatises prefer, probably because Itlogtimates architecture as the creation of the neve The more probable history of humans dwelingin caves for sure less heroic—the caves already there and humane adaot it fr the urnoea of calling Robinson Cisne —anie Refoa's 1719 archetypical brcoleur—merges both mythologies: he chooses acave and tesitwith ahut by reusing the wrecks ofhis Figs ship, indad a very up-to-date reuse” Squats and lofts challenge the eeparation of od and ne, of present and past, which isa consttutive ingredient ofthe very idea of modernity. The Renaissance ushered in maderity by aadiscontincity wth the immediate past—the Middle -Ages—and aspiring to estore a continuity withthe cistant past-—the Classical Age A lost and fragmented heritage has tobe scientifically econstructed-—our contemporary idea of /estoraton in architecture has its root here—while the much ints Bowing Alone: Te Colaoee ad Rial of American aren (2000) 14 lning poopie who are ania ard that. hehe ge dina reusing treaty as re eanabiy of groucing something Lurans abibabhofthemis- ath entry atte that God the nf be posse, resumed 18 mLoparsce sinage (962, Cd Lo. Srauentreduees the dohsty ngioebcoleur which wll repeats refered inthis esa Hs goal san arthopoiget wast ackrowldgetheeipy of mal thnkrg ss"concrte scence” nrespct ta made cat thinking (pa. 25-47 ofpractoee a ecapva rau that operate incosed intenetal vier Walsior ways that “barbarians” and "Goths" had dealt with ruins ‘or centuries, dwellingin them and reusing thei fragments as bullding material, was ejected as incorrect. By dismembering classical buildings and reusing cassical artifacts regardless of theircorect postion and meaning, they were appiing Erwin iple of disjunction” between content and form—exactly as we do today when repurposing old buildings for new uses. The new historical awarenoss pretended: restore the unity of the two." it became imperative to document and to protect the traces of the past, for their knowiedge was necessary to produce new and correct architecture legtimized byits classical ineage. It was not the matter that wastto be reused, but the correct forms and thee true meaning. Raffaello ‘Sanzio inhi 1819 etter to Pope Leone X—coneidered asthe birth certificate of the modern idea of conservation-caime” tohave surveyed Rornan relics “without error" and "with true reason” and complains about their use by the Pope's -cescors as reserves of reusable pieces and materals— nd award with sustainability today. Classical ruins were measured toinfer rules and ‘models for making new architecture, but the results werent ahvays consistent, Diserepancies equited interpretations and conjectures, making any grammar cisputable and providing ‘more versions of orders and proportions than any cassic purist ideal could assimilate nto a single, coherent order. For the good fortune of architecture, Vitruvius left ne dravings. Classical crders lost the normathity onthe fields of archeological surveys, tobe temporarily saved by being considered as 2 convention—something different from truth. And if we can convene on the beauty of classic architecture, why should we ‘ot anjay the beauties of ather traditions? The past was soon to become a repository of forms and symbole available for reu coherent syle packages or more eclectic and free combina The ‘principle of cisunction” was at work again? le measuring ruins, one rks falling under ther spell They were nat only relics to be enjoyed as traces of lost glory, 2e th pec rato Rerslancs nthareconnecton offs 1 suv aporeition and revs of dessin pagan fos ard yma rusted Joep ykvertin hi 280 Snaage The reminded man of the ray of existence, the passing of time, the revenge of nature over artifice. Anew kind of aesthetic— sublime, regular and picturesque—arese when classical rationality slowly ceded to romantic experience, anaesthetic ‘that praised stratification, hybrid, incompleteness, vec the palimpsest not only for what ittestitieg, but als in and ofits, forts superpositions voids, over writings, and fragments tt wales rigorous and elitist, more open and inclusive—the effects of the sublime are more various and accessibe than the rules of proportion. It was also more adapted tothe early steps of mass circulation and consumption of artifacts, images, anc ideas tat the printed illustrated accounts of the Grand Tour and the catalogs of historical stylee—and their coming industrial production in the form of serialized artifacts for use of tre general public—made possible, The upcoming “age of mechanization” celebrated by Sigtied Giedion® generously reused historical imagery to sre technologies we would today describe as “sisruptive” to eduezted Victorian English and Second Empire French gentlemen, disguised under the familiar twais of eclectic serial reproductions of historic arti The cornucopia of styles thatthe fret post-war architectural avant-garde wanted to part from and even liquidated as 18 in achansatn takes Conan A Contain to Aor iy 148 +9 Ea furetioratem iniouetial groducton wae analy Henin chutes is 170 book Nineteen Mace: The Functonl Taincrime" in the name of a new moral discipline based on an abstract interpretation ofthe classical ideal and an idealization 3 the rationality ofindustry2" They drew an unwavering tust nthe virtues of novelty a a means of constant improvement Tor the figurative arts movements and positivist technophila! wing seemed to confirm this ea: apparenty in nature, selection was also ‘the new—and not the fitest or the most adasted— eval over the old Thi commitment, ity was hegemonic fr three -cades, From the 50s on, angry young European and North American architect started to openiy challenge the modernist ternational Stylin the name of complexity history, social responsibilty, bottom-up design, vemacular architecture, and ant-authoritarian planning. Jane Jacobs was not alone in her plea for ol buildings against forced modernization, I .wo of the most influential Books ofthe 20th century were ished: Robert Vertur's Complexity and Contradiction in al araysisof theo of mchanr x kican cuties and irate regards wtheusicen brbreating te cartinetyoftaton, Sigs oFtimeand eget re ‘anda, $2. oven transits ae iperctonimparsnance and aul ‘minimalist dogma, that less is a bore” and Aldo Rossi's LLarchitettura dela ett, parting from modernist urban plan rningand architectural principles to reconstruct a typological ‘merphologizal, and iconieal continuity with the hietory of the city. They were nat archecture or urban historians: they lacked the methedclogical tools ofa discipline that, in th same years, was gaining independence both from architectural Gesign ana fom art history. They wantad to reopen access to slogecy that modernism had cenfinad in the closed perimeter of heritage end monuments. They were in search of lgitimacy in order to subvert the establishment, nt an impossible reversion tohistory. Thee approach was political and poetical ‘not philotogcal, They practiced disjunction again: ana the postmoderr playful use of history was at hand, Macs production and consumeriers had tuened the avant-garde ial oF new and simple” nto the more pervasive marketing idea of kind ofnatural obsolescence” of artifacts and goods 3 the rst global energy crisis mark ‘dof any 18 in infinite economic growth and technological co forthe general public. Environmental science and soon, social awareness to question an econorry ‘transforming finizhed natural resources into goods to rapidly scard them as waste: Obsolescence of products was soon to become obsolescence of praducticn—and producers, The factories, stee! mills, a warehousesthat had made modernity were starting to close at an unprecedented pace, leaving thelr material lagacy in cities as anew form of post-industrial sublime: industrial rusting eine, 800 rebranded as “archeology invited to join the ever extend ing perimeter of historical heritage—and ready to be reused. In spite of tre modern insistence on newness, amore extended chronology of architecture would see the eventual over prevalence of adaptive reuse over new construction the scare eau cf tha test 272 Unie Nations Conference on the Hunan Erweormantn283 theUN chard a cei by former get adn fthe subi: the ro noton a conta bean ths imencesepacaly ot rata —anaringthe here the power ofanvrade prodtion rls the onesie forces fatbeing sanitized by archaeologists in 1840 in the name of history, the Aries Arena had hoeted houses and workshops for alonger time than ithed hosted glaciatorial games, Spared “om the historicit zeal of restorers and the imperial ambitions of Mussolini the Teatro Marcell i still inhabited todey, as ithas| been since the fallof Rome, abbeys and monasteries were reused as army barracks, hospitals, and schools after the French 12 most of the ime on this Earth humans have produced most oftheir space by adapting evisting atfacts to emerging needs and reused old stuf for new ourpcees. Sitting ‘on the peak of the greatest growth wave hurmanity nas ever revolution. Fo seen—and probably will ever see—and imbued wit a fata attraction for the new embedsedin the very cots of eur culture, weare ust starting to acknowledge this fact The social practice of adaptive reuse All through modernity, reuse has baen resisted a 2 stubborn, marginal, but pervasive social practice. i the “glorious thirty" years of post-war reconstruction and, gromth the praduction of space was handed tothe state orthe market and the provision of space—for instance, the housing supp'y—became either a welfare service ara market sector” People mere ciapassessed ofthe competence to bulld which they had proved for centuries, and forced tohandit peciaized technicians Ike architects and engines, But ‘over the production of space—in backyards in allotments, in basements —the bricoleur was at work" The ensuring preference of Europeans and Americans for autonomous forms never people could retain some form of con terainhisbock es Trent Glnnues ou arteuton ieee 945 2175, and-atreughhistorcaly deated™has becomea shortcuts sararze ul of housinghas a solid basen the inherent adaptabilty ofthe ‘ingle farily house to the timely evolving needs ofits vers, and inthe possiblity for self adaptation." “Making” thingsmay no longer have been a material necessity in consumerist societies, but, instead of cisappearing itremained as aform of flilment became a mass market rebranded as Dy, and was soon ta be rediscovered as authentic” by radical social ‘movements criticizing the alienation of mass producticn and and expression of consumptio ‘Ther key to understand this endurance ie identity, For the individual, the group, or the cornmusity, no top-down freduction process can provide identification with place, which i a crucial ingredient of cil identity and cohesion—especially when modemization disrupts the traditional frames of experience, belef,and behavior, as happened and happens in the vansition from rural to urban and from agriculture industry.” might ‘come with time, through a slow process of adaptation o the new and of the new, as the troubled biographies of moderist public housing estates prove. This process” pace depends on socal factors like income and social mobili, and on spatial ‘actors lke distritution and typology. entity is instead a natural byproduct of autonomous produ on, ga-halp, do-yourset and individual and communal mobilization. Making something by yourselfincorporatesitinto your identity; making twith others incorporates nto the collective identity ofthe group or wth Denis Hare was ta fet to reconsvuct ates of travcommunity, be it local community of place tied by proxinty ~ie, residents ofaneighborhood—or a community of interest with shared goals and motivational, politcal, cultura, and social ties—ie. urban movernents.® This wountary and constructed identity is inherently cooperative and transformative, and should not be confused withthe ragressve nation of identity, understood asthe conservation ofthe orignary purty of s70Up. The social connection inthe fist. ease ie dynamic and allows inclusion—anyone who shares our goalis welcome; in the second case its entrenched and produces exclusion-—anyone wnho does not belong to "us isa danger to our identity. The Fret is positive, the second negative, The fist is defined by future, ' the second by past” Various groups have sought to enhance and expand this progressive notion of identity attached to individual freedom, autonomous production, and socal cooperation: young Team X architects attacking modernist pundits of International Style st 1969 CIAM in Otterlo, French Situationists exploring deep Paris and contestingitsferced maderrization, East coast hippies building geodesic domes with scrapped steel auto parts, London punks equating Victorian townhouses and Amsterdam ang Borin radicals occupying abandoned warehouses ang churches and turning them into socal centers, twas the very same value that working class heroes were obstinately practicing in theirsuburban allotments, vegetable gardens, ad Victorian backyards, and withthe very eame too's and methods. 1 underlying shared goal was to reconquer control ave the production of space, which had been increasingly sn ge0gEnYandchoes ein Garis ertaue | reconstruction of he commit concep by Steve Bint. Saco smut engagement find forthe itr. Ini concep, deny 1 Aocordingto Zygmunt Bauman int acorns probes retion when structured socal fames are uestcned by meseizaton process discssen tne esa called re Hobebawn and Terence Rangein expropriated of delegated to technical bodies, publc authorities, private developers, and housing institutions. ‘The second key is autonomy, or the decfine in the monopoly of technicians and intellectuals inthe production of content’ The 20th century modernist ero architect shared the soctaly recognized mission ofinnovating and the ownership ofits results withthe 18th century engineers, and even with their predevesso; the 8th century genius." *New"—be it postry or patent—uas the product of a selacted and specialized individual pushing forwarthe limits of human creation, and a special ocial statue and legally reserved rights rewarded his effort. The inventor, the aiscuptor, and the groundbreaker are the madern| insttutionalzed version of the remantic hero, deprived of his Instable character and solialy connected to production and economy. Once ability and craftsmanship of execution have been downgraded to practicltioe ans creativity, concentrated in conception is attributed tothe individual as a personal and fiven talent the author and the authority—from Latin augére, ineraase:the ane who inereases-~can ould thelr primacy in ‘the separation of intellectual and manual work and the rule of the frst ove the second. The quality of things that for centuries had been tho joint result of experience, knoviledge, and skilled executianin spite ofall efforts by the many wishful followers cof Wiliam Morris, scared by mechanization, to celebrate the talented craftsman and marry him with incustry—had been wiped out by Frederick W. Taylors and Henry Fors scientific? ‘organization of work pit into repetitive elementary tasks ‘lactacin 200 ty Simon Saserand Jonathan Hughes Non Pan says ‘on Fea, aration and Changin Men Arto and urbane Thehistry ofthe Tern X hasbeen recentncted in 2006in the rion at theta Na Tar 10, 962-188 n Search oF Utz 28 The proete wa et uses by 2ygmurt Saran in ie. ‘Seman Syma Brngand on Coleg aac adstiton ofcrestyts a ricices and teres canbe fundinte cess