The architectural practice of reusing and refurbishing should be the first consideration when designing and reshaping our already overbuilt cities. Good architecture prioritizes this approach over demolition, as it can reduce costs, enhance environmental efficiency, and preserve functional structures that can continue serving their purpose for years.
Zaha Hadid Architects has joined Ukrainian authorities to present the Odesa Expo 2030 bid proposal, an event planned to become the first Expo to be hosted in Eastern Europe. The masterplan is designed with legacy and sustainability in mind. The central pavilions are configured to be transformed into Ukraine’s first fair exhibition hub after the closing of the Expo, while the national pavilions are designed to be dismantled and redeployed as new civic buildings throughout Ukraine.
The third edition of the architecture competition Re-use Italy promotes the repurpose of a forgotten church in southern Italy, in Grottole, in the province of Matera. Facing the issue of the abandonment of small towns in Italy, the contest in partnership with, ArchDaily, KooZA/rch, Graphisoft, Wonder Grottole, with the official support of the Municipality of Grottole (Matera), Ministero per i beni e le attività culturali e per il turismo, FAI Basilicata, Matera Art Film Festiva, ANCI Basilicata, Associazione Borghi Autentici d’Italia, Ordine degli Architetti P.P.C. della provincia di Matera, seeks to reuse the “Fallen-church” and transform the ruin into a Concert Hall.
Piscina Mirabilis is a Roman reservoir built by Emperor Augustus in the 1st century AD, in order to feed with drinking water the headquarter of his western Mediterranean war fleet. It was dug out a tuff hill, and it is based on a regular grid of pillars and arcs. The vaulted reservoir is 15 meters high, 72 meters long, 25 meters wide and features 48 brick pillars.
Last year’s granting of the Mies van der Rohe Award to a social housing refurbishment project brought into the spotlight a topic of interest for many European cities: the moral and physical rehabilitation of post-war housing blocks.
Here's a new definition for the phrase "Tree House."
Visiondivision's concession stand for 100 Acres, an Art & Nature Park in Indiana, is made entirely from one 100-ft yellow poplar tree. Not only does the trunk form the horizontal beam of the structure, but literally nothing of the tree was left to waste: bark became shingles; extracted pieces of wood became structural support, chairs and tables, swings; even the bark's syrup was extracted to be sold in the kiosk itself.
The architects who refined this tree into a building were inspired by an ethos of "gentleness" with nature. As they share in their architects' brief: "Our project is about trying to harvest something as gently as possible so that the source of what we harvest is displayed in a pure, pedagogic and respectful way—respectful to both the source itself and to everyone visiting the building."
A video, images, and the architects' brief, after the break...
.jpg?1605615404 "Courtesy of Re-use Italy")
