1 | Architectural Experiments to Intervene in the As Found
This session explores experimental spatial strategies for existing buildings.
Architects are increasingly interested in adaptive reuse, challenging traditional conservation principles.
We will address questions such as the relationship between interior and exterior, the meaning of emptiness, and the role of removal in preserving heritage. We seek new approaches to question conventional practices and present a range of experiments.
2 | Translating the As Found: Narratives and Meaning
Remodelling historical sites changes initial meanings and introduces new narratives. Architects seek to enter into a dialogue with the past on formal and conceptual grounds. Are architects like translators who transfer the meaning from an existing structure into a new one?
However, dealing with ambiguous or controversial histories and immaterial heritage raises questions. How do we document and secure immaterial dimensions, and whose values are taken care of?
3 | As Used: Sustaining the Existing Use
Historical buildings are affordable and flexible but lose affordability and current uses during transformation. How can we develop adaptive reuse strategies to keep current functions and local community value?
This session explores all forms of existing use, including resistance and formal involvement in planning. Presentations can also explore developer perspectives to understand why existing programs rarely survive and examine needed incentives for change.
4 | Education for Reuse - Reuse for Education
This session explores how architectural education has embraced notions of reuse and sustainability, seeking contributions through case studies.
Authors are invited to critically analyze pedagogical tools and methods for reading the built environment and consider how adaptive reuse can meet increasing demands for educational spaces. They can also examine how existing frameworks and structures impact curriculum formation and educational processes.
