| Open to change When thinking about rehabilitation of the old built environment, historical buildings and industrial facilities are the first to be considered, thanks to their generous spatial qualities. Thinking of rehabilitating smaller buildings such as working class housing is a bigger challenge because their dimensions and spatial layout don’t allow immediate flexibility. We add value to our perception of the physical/ spatial environment but also the people that live in it give value to an area. The context where buildings, people and organizations are placed is constantly changing. But as Steward Brand says not everything changes at the same rate or is affected by its context in the same way . Neither the frequency, magnitude nor duration of change has constant impact across different situations. Change is a subjective natural phenomenon; what changes for some people might not have the same impact for other. Some people refuse to change because they experience a sense of loss, other people don’t realize that change can be irreversible.
New strategies need to be implemented to approach and manage change successfully. The idea is to find a balance between the existing built environment and how we can contribute to improve it without simple getting rid of it. At the same time promoting a stronger social cohesion through design to reinforce the sense of belonging and to avoid that these built spaces will fall again in decay. Researching the way traditional renovations are carried out today will lead to propose an innovative, environmental conscious solutions for the 21st century. The aim of this project is to find alternative solutions for non-conventional housing renovations that add value to the properties by finding new living environments from obsolete housing layouts.
1 Marus, Thomas. Building Conversion and Rehabilitation. Desiging for change. London . 1979
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When we see a decaying area is not just the physical deterioration we are looking at but a manifestation of the lack of interest and therefore financial withdrawal of that particular place1. Physical improvement is not enough on its own , it is the total system that requires attention. The upgrading and maintenance of our environment is essential to overcome decay, looking at existing common buildings and finding alternatives to regenerate them will maximize the value of the built environment as it will contribute to a greater sense of belonging of its users.