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Book Review: RE-USA 20 american stories of adaptive reuse

Adding to the literature of industrial redevelopment

September 15, 2018 By Carol Berens Leave a Comment

Re-USA 20 stories book cover
RE–USA: 20 American Stories of Adaptive Reuse A Toolkit for Post-Industrial Cities by Matteo Robiglio, JOVIS Verlag GmbH, 2017

Redevelopment of abandoned post-industrial buildings and neighborhoods has been transforming American cities over the past decades. Visits to successful projects make an interesting road trip. Matteo Robiglio, an architecture professor at the Politecnico di Torino’s Design and Architecture Department (Italy), did just that and recorded his findings in his new book. RE-USE documents his expedition and reviews projects with respect of their success in adaptive reuse as well as urban revival. While the book trods well-known ground, he turned lessons learned into a toolkit for those interested in embarking on such projects themselves and in the process added to the growing literature extolling adaptive reuse.

From Washington, D.C., to Pittsburgh and then on to Chicago, Detroit and New York, Robiglio documents projects large and small. He illustrates the narrative arc that starts with thriving industry, descends into abject abandonment and then progresses to fitful, but ultimate success. These accounts bring into sharp relief that the massive economic and physical changes caused by the decline of America’s industrial base and infrastructure have been going on for decades. In fact, some of the projects document property that had been abandoned fairly soon after World War II, in the 1950s, although most occurred in the 1970s and 80s. All, however, took a long time with many dead ends before the right renovation solution was found.

The repetitiveness of these stories does not diminish their importance or their effects on people’s lives and the character of their cities. Doing nothing leaves large swaths of the country desolate. Robiglio analyzed his observations and turned them into an “adaptive reuse toolkit” that can be used by cities but is really addressed to concerned citizens intent on reviving their neighborhoods.

Consisting of eight steps and addressed to “you and your family,” the processes outlined are intended to chart a path of redevelopment and acknowledge and build upon the industrial legacy by emphasizing adaptive reuse. The steps are: Explore possibilities, Access potential, Envision the future, Involve partners, Colonize the place, Design to reuse, Placemaking and funding, and Run and evolve. Perhaps the most important lesson to be learned occurs in the last chapter: “adaptive reuse is a long-term process of evolution rather than a pre-set project.” Many of the projects in his book went through many failed attempts and changes of programs until the right idea came at the right time. Perseverance is key.

Filed Under: Environment, Feature Posts, Historic, New York City, Review, Revitalization Tagged With: Civic, Environment, Historic, Planning, Projects, Revitalization, Uncategorized

avatar for Carol Berens

About Carol Berens

Carol Berens is an architect and author in New York City. She has been writing for UrbDeZine since 2011.
 
The germ of the idea for her most recent book, Redeveloping Industrial Sites, started with a short article on the new Paris parks way back in 1998 for the now-defunct TWA Ambassador. Through visits to these parks and interviews with the architects and city planners, she saw how Paris’ industrial past was being transformed into not only into new parks, but new neighborhoods. Of course, Paris isn’t the only city that is confronted with the ruins of its earlier industry. The exploration into how other countries and cities including New York are continuing to reinvent themselves has been an interesting and fun journey.
 
She is the author of Hotel Bars and Lobbies (Mc-Graw Hill, 1996), articles on design and urban issues for various magazines as well as the Associate Editor for The Paris Times, a former English-language monthly newspaper published in Paris.
 
A former vice president at the Empire State Development Corporation, she led efforts in the land development of several upstate mixed-use communities as well as the sale and development of surplus state-owned land. Carol received M. Arch from Columbia’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation and worked as an architect at Marcel Breuer Architect in Paris, France, and at Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates in New York City.
 
Carol can be reached at carol_berens@yahoo.com, through her website,www.carolberens.com, and via Facebook at Carol Berens NYC Real Estate.

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