Reconsider, reconfigure, reimagine A sustainable lesson from adaptive reuse

摘要

Much of the conversation surrounding sustainable architecture in the face of imminent climate change devastation is concerned with newness. Every day, we see new buildings constructed with ever greater material efficiency, new structures withstanding ever worsening weather conditions, and new technologies operating at ever higher standards of performance. And yet, this position of newness remains firmly embedded within the cycle of cradle to grave, where the old is necessarily deficient and discarded, replaced by the fresh and the exciting. This begs the question: is our quest for sustainability unconditionally clenched within the hands of the new?