\tRenovate not demolish – for identity’s sake<\/p>\n
Maria Conen, architect and professor at ETH Zurich, also believes in repurposing what we already have. Her projects at architects Conen Sigl Architekt:innen have long focused on conserving the legacy of earlier construction. <\/p>\n
Her goal is always to make the best possible use of existing buildings through renovation and extension. Initially, climate protection was not even the priority; for her, cultural and social considerations are equally important. \u201cHouses and neighbourhoods have a history,\u201d she emphasises. \u201cWe shouldn\u2019t forget how much this shapes the identity of the people living there. When you demolish their houses, you also erase their history.\u201d<\/p>\n
Does the population keep up with the change of Zurich?<\/p>\n
Instead, Conen argues, neighbourhoods should be redeveloped so that they remain recognisable to their residents. While there is nothing wrong with change per se, she says, a city like Zur\u00adich, which is currently undergoing rapid transformation, can quickly leave its own inhabitants behind. \u201cIn the past, we tore down far too much, far too quickly,\u201d Conen explains. \u201cIf you only protect the most prominent historic buildings, those in between are unjustly written off as being less important.\u201dThat said, she is fully aware that not every building can be protected. If buildings are to last, they require regular upkeep. And if this maintenance has been neglected for too long, the building fabric is often beyond repair.<\/p>\n
Nor is it always possible to reuse building materials. Yet the opportunities here, as De Wolf explains, are far from being fully exploited: \u201cFor example, a lot of wood is just burned, even though it\u2019s very easy to reuse. And concrete gets crushed, although it could be cut into slabs for reuse as walls or floors.\u201d Steel beams, on the other hand, are indeed sometimes recycled. \u201cWhen steel is molten, you can reshape it into any form, but the processing takes a lot of energy,\u201d De Wolf explains. \u201cIf you want to reuse the beams as they are, it requires far more creative input from architects and engineers.\u201d And because their work is expensive and energy comparatively cheap, the idea of reusing building materials struggles to gain traction.<\/p>\n
Reducing inputs<\/p>\n
Removing building elements for reuse, as in the case of the Centre Pompidou, is similarly labour-intensive and expensive. \u201cThe cheapest option is often to tear something down, put up a new building and dump the rubble in landfills,\u201d Conen admits, highlighting the unfortunate economic reality. \u201cWe therefore need to ensure that the cost and effort of circular construction are no higher than today\u2019s linear approach,\u201d De Wolf explains. One option, she suggests, is automating the process of reclaiming building materials.<\/p>\n
Even after all that, finding people willing to reuse those materials can be almost as challenging. De Wolf spent countless hours trying to find a new home for the glass escalator canopy from the Centre Pompidou \u2013 a task that proved to be far harder than expected. Her solution is to work with the construction industry to develop online marketplaces for suppliers and potential users: \u201cOur aim is to create an end-to-end digital ecosystem.\u201d Beyond these economic and logistical issues, there are also technical and legal considerations. For example, are the reused steel beams structurally sound? Has the wood been treated with hazardous chemicals? And who will guarantee that they are safe? In future, says De Wolf, specialised civil engineers will be needed to answer these questions. At present, there are only a few experts in this field, and most of them are busy assessing the structural integrity of historic buildings.<\/p>\n
The use of modular construction methods can make it easier to repair buildings and reuse their materials, but equally important is how the individual elements are joined together. While adhesive joints are difficult to separate, \u201cinterlocking or screwed elements can be easily taken apart,\u201d De Wolf explains.<\/p>\n
In future, additional documentation should ease this process. A digital record will provide information on the entire history of a building ma\u00adterial, making it easier to reuse later on. One of De Wolf\u2019s doctoral students is currently working on how best to standardise and harmonise this documentation. Another barrier to renovation is overzealous regulation. If someone wants to modify an old building, they must comply with current legislation on, for example, thermal insulation. Both Conen and De Wolf criticise that standards here are too narrowly focused on the new build sector and do not take sufficient account of the realities of reno\u00advation and a building\u2019s specific context.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot all buildings and spaces have to be used in the same way,\u201d says De Wolf. \u201cIt should be possible, for example, to take a poorly insulated building, heat it less, and use it, say, as a museum space.\u201d And Conen points out that today\u2019s buildings are designed to be as airtight as possible and thereby minimise energy losses. \u201cBut a chalet in the mountains is never airtight!\u201d she adds. \u201cChalets were built according to a completely different concept \u2013 using locally sourced, natural materials and ensuring natural ventilation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Renovate not demolish – for identity’s sake Maria Conen, architect and professor at ETH Zurich, also believes in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":38652,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[16075,9125,3385,20011,1202,51],"class_list":{"0":"post-38651","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-zurich","8":"tag-civil-engineering","9":"tag-d-arch","10":"tag-d-baug","11":"tag-globe-magazine","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-zurich"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116290553435172897","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38651"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38651\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38652"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}