The Beauty of a New Beginning

Housing shortages and building dereliction are fundamental challenges, concerning also the current architectural landscape. That these problems can be overcome by addressing them together has been proven by the increasingly successful reactivation and conversion of existing real estate in both urban and rural contexts. Real-world examples show that these measures can also make sense economically and from an urban planning perspective.

In this way, the most extraordinary living spaces are created from old silos or depreciated office buildings, vacant churches, former station buildings or obsolete infrastructure buildings with the creative appropriation of the existing substance. The careful and respectful handling of the building fabric is as important in this process as the creative extension of the existing structures. This volume shows the exciting variety of reuse possibilities and provides new insights into and perspectives on a highly topical subject.