Week 2 Urban Theme

Urban Theme - The Big Idea

Buildings and change : Permanence and Transformation

The history of the buildings that the human race has created over thousands of years is one of the constant change. Political, religious and economic regimes rise and fail; buildings, more often than not, outlast civilisations.  Today, office and buildings of the 1950s and 1960s are being recast for domestic and 'leisure' use - for the simple reason that conversion is a cheaper and less complicated process than new build. Given that the function of business buildings in the centre district will no longer be business use. Reusing existing building is, first and foremost, a matter of common-sense economics and it is a process which has gone on throughout history. Building conversion often took place. The driving force behind reuse was, in other words, functional and financial.

source:Architecture Reborn

There are a few steps to take before we start the conversion and reconstruction of old buildings.

Strategy

• Understand The Modern Movement and After
• The Politics of Preservation
• The Roots of Transformation
• Saving The City
• Transformation and the New Architecture
•  The City Reborn
•  Architecture Transformed