Adaptive Reuse Architecture Documentation and Analysis Dafna Fisher-Gewirtzman* Faculty of Architecture & Town Planning, Technion – IIT, Haifa, Israel
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al Eng tur ine ec er Fisher-Gewirtzman, J Archit Eng Tech 2016, 5:3 it in h g c r T e DOI: 10.4172/2168-9717.1000172 A c f h o n Journal of Architectural l o a l n o r g u y o J Engineering Technology ISSN: 2168-9717 Research Article Open Access Adaptive Reuse Architecture Documentation and Analysis Dafna Fisher-Gewirtzman* Faculty of Architecture & Town Planning, Technion – IIT, Haifa, Israel Abstract Buildings have been reused throughout history. The current discourse of diverse trends in preservation together with awareness for sustainable environments has led to a surge in adaptive reuse projects. The combination of new and old architecture ensures the retaining of authentic character while providing an appropriate new use and revitalizing the structure. Learning from precedents is one of the most important knowledge bases for architects. It has many layers of knowledge referring to the old building and its original use, the transformed building and its new use, and the transformation itself. The objective of this work is to propose a theoretical and practical background for a systematic process to support adaptive reuse architecture precedent E-learning. A procedure for the analysis has been developed to fit the specific nature of this architecture data. This paper is presenting the analysis principles and demonstrates the system as a powerful infrastructure for E-learning. Keywords: Adaptive reuse of Buildings; Formal analysis; Learning and to enhance it rather than break it or try to diminish it. Such from precedents; Creative design; Design process structures must be studied carefully for their physical and metaphysical qualities and designers must consider all aspects and decide on tactics Introduction and strategies for their actions. Adaptive reuse is a special form of refurbishment that poses When designing a new building, the architect, either consciously quite difficult challenges for designers. Changing the functional or not, uses an architectural strategy that will inform the order of classification of a building introduces new regulatory conditions and the building. These strategic moves are of course supplemented by may require rezoning approval. Nevertheless, there are clear economic, a complex combination of various factors such as site conditions, environmental and social benefits that can make this option attractive to structural systems, programmatic requirements, and his or her own developers. Adaptive reuse has been successfully applied on many types personal vision [4]. Brooker and Stone argue that when a building of facilities around the world. It is seen as being fundamental to sound is reused, the most important and meaningful factor in the design government policy and sustainable development in the US, Canada, is the original building and the relationship between the old and the Hong Kong, North Africa, and Australia [1]. Although buildings new. Langston et al. propose a model that assists in transforming the have been reused throughout history, new architectural interventions property stakeholders' traditional decision-making processes to more are seen as a creative way to breathe new life into an existing historic sustainable practices, strategies, and outcomes by providing a means context, while reinventing an economic and social value. Combining by which industry can identify and rank existing buildings that have new and old architecture ensures the retaining of authentic character high potential for adaptive reuse. The model explores the relationship while providing an appropriate new use. Such new use eventually between financial, environmental, and social parameters associated adds to the building’s historic fabric and to the built fabric as a whole with the adaptive reuse of buildings. This point of view is critical for the (MacDonald, 2009). decision-makers' level. The provocative “Cronocaos” exhibition by Rem Koolhaas in New In this paper we focus on the design strategies and knowledge- York emphasized the problematic agenda of building preservation. Has based design and on the role of precedent study and analysis in adaptive preservation become a dangerous epidemic? Is it destroying our cities? reused architecture. The objective of this work is to propose a theoretical Koolhaas draws on ideas that have been circulating in architectural and practical background for a systematic process to support adaptive circles for several years now; specifically the argument presented by reuse architecture precedent E-learning. For this purpose, several case many academics that preservation movements worldwide, working studies were analyzed using a structured analysis process. hand in hand with governments and developers, have become a force Section 2 introduces the background information for the current for gentrification and social displacement, driving out the poor to make work and Section 3 discusses the procedure for the proposed analysis of room for wealthy homeowners and tourists. This, Koolhaas argues, will adaptive reuse precedents and demonstrates the full analysis process as bring about “a new form of historical amnesia, one that, perversely, only applied to one of the case studies. Section 4 presents the classification further alienates us from the past” [2]. It is estimated that some 70% of structures existing today will still be in existence 50 years from now, and so refurbishment and updating for current and future needs must *Corresponding author: Dafna Fisher-Gewirtzman, Faculty of Architecture become central in our current practices. Thus, the correct way to deal & Town Planning, Technion – IIT, Haifa, Israel, Tel: +972-4-8294031; E-mail: with historical structures may well be the adaptive reuse strategy. [email protected] The design process of such adaptive reused architecture is very Received September 20, 2016; Accepted September 25, 2016; Published September 29, 2016 different than conventional design processes, and may require other or additional skills. Referring to their work at the Tate Modern museum Citation: Fisher-Gewirtzman D (2016) Adaptive Reuse Architecture Documentation and Analysis. J Archit Eng Tech 5: 172. doi: 10.4172/2168-9717.1000172 in London, world-acclaimed architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron said that "the attendant constraints demanded a very different Copyright: © 2016 Fisher-Gewirtzman D. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits kind of creative energy" [3]. They added that their strategy was ot accept unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the the physical power of Bankside's massive mountain-like brick building original author and source are credited. J Archit Eng Tech, an open access journal Volume 5 • Issue 3 • 1000172 ISSN: 2168-9717 Citation: Fisher-Gewirtzman D (2016) Adaptive Reuse Architecture Documentation and Analysis. J Archit Eng Tech 5: 172. doi: 10.4172/2168-9717.1000172 Page 2 of 8 process of sixteen case studies based on the variant analysis, and Section the adaptive reuse process. Thus, adaptive reuse analysis is different 5 suggests an intelligent search based on related concepts. Section 6 and significantly more complex than the analysis of precedents that did concludes the discussion of the proposed analysis and its role in the undergo an adaptive reuse process. This leads to three stages of formal design process, and suggests future directions for development and use. inquiry: (1) Original building form (original stage); (2) Reshaped building form (final stage); and (3) The transformation from original Background stage to final stage in terms of tactics, strategy, and type of intervention. Knowledge-based architecture design In order to learn from architecture design precedents, they must be One of the basic assumptions of this work is that knowledge- searched for in an educated manner, based on multiple classification based architecture design relies on understanding design precedents methods. Such search may be determined by the structure's original and that the design process is a dynamic process of adaptation and function, by name of architect, by formal attributes, and so on. The transformation of knowledge and early attempts or experiences to search for relevant precedents for an adaptive reuse project may correspond with current needs [5,6]. Therefore, the broader the become very complex since every search in any category mentioned horizons of knowledge used for the design, the richer and more above would definitely yield two (or more) different sets of data: The accurate the design and the design process. This work focuses on the original function and the new function, the original architect and the formal knowledge, structural knowledge, materiality, strategies and intervention architect, the formal attributes of the original building tactics of adaptive reuse architecture. and the formal attributes of the transformed building, and so on. In adaptive reuse architecture, the process of transforming the building, Architecture's basic elements, such as form and space, have been i.e. the tactics and strategy of transformation, is in itself an important present throughout human history and so it is most important to precedent in architectural knowledge. examine continuity, to understand similarities and differences and the variant patterns. Clark (1985) refers to the continuity as transforming Adaptive reuse architecture analyses the past and becoming part of the present. Ching (1979) argues