What to do with old buildings?

Mark Dygert

I was talking with some co-workers today and we got on the subject of urban ruins. Specifically the stuff on www.opacity.us, old hospitals, prisons, hotels, mental institutions and defunct factories. It was a good convo and I was wondering what other people thought.

Should stuff like this be torn down or preserved and or reused?


Personally I love history. I'm all for preservation but I understand that some of these places have an ugly past and are hazards. I also hate to see the wilderness ravaged so humans can sprawl out in all directions while already ravaged land plays host to rotting buildings. It's a tough call...

Ferg

As a reformed pack-rat I know the value of not getting attached to things just because they're cool or have a lot of history.

That said, I like the way they've been handling old buildings in the area I live (capitol hill, seattle). If at all possible, the building is left standing. They completely renovate the inside, make it earthquake proof, bring it up to current building code standards, and then re-purpose it. But the core personality and appearance of the building remains. It makes the building useful again and keeps it from being dangerous (as many old buildings are).

JKMakowka

In Europe (Germany?) it has become pretty common to make really fancy places out of such old industrial architecture.

Depends of where it is located though, of course and if there is an investor.

Illusions

http://www.opacity.us/site94_central_islip_state_hospital.htm

New York Institute of Technology was the school I went to...

...that was why I commuted instead of dorming.

Target_Renegade

In the UK we build lots of housing in greenfield areas, mainly because some regions, such as the South are more in demand. There are lots of abandoned properties scattered all over that could be bought for next to nothing, so its a shame that we continue to pour tarmac and concrete everywhere. If people lost their superstitious notion that an abandoned building, especially hospitals and asylums, is somehow involved in paranormal activity then maybe lots of apartments could be created.

ebagg

Well how many european cities have buildings hundreds or thousands of years old, many still in use? Meanwhile at least here in Seattle we bust down buildings from the 1950s-70s to put up condos everywhere. If an area is booming, seems like the popular trend is just build something new because people want that.

TheWinterLord

ebagg wrote: »

Well how many european cities have buildings hundreds or thousands of years old, many still in use? Meanwhile at least here in Seattle we bust down buildings from the 1950s-70s to put up condos everywhere. If an area is booming, seems like the popular trend is just build something new because people want that.

thousands?
in my town we have houses older than the US (yes families live in them). nothing special

ok so houses that are thousands of years are rare lol

osman

Before they do anything, someone should photograph the **** out of them and put it online somewhere...for ME.

Tumerboy

Sun Microsystems bought out the Agnews State Insane Asylum here in Santa Clara, and converted it into their campus. It's a beautiful place, and I'm SO glad they didn't just tear it all down and build some big metal & glass monstrosity:

http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/santaclara/agn.htm

I much prefer when a building can be safely and properly restored, or gutted while leaving the shell in tact. I feel like architecture past, has much more character, as well as time/workmanship/love put into it, than most architecture today. Anything we can do (within reason) to preserve that, is fine by me.

Zwebbie

It all depends on whether the buildings were designed to last in the first place. During the age of modernism, a lot of buildings were made in such a way that they'd be as cheap as possible, but would stand upright for 50 years. But who cares, they'll build new stuff in 50 years, right? To be honest, though, I'm not really sad to see modernist structures go.

But there are plenty of more interesting styles and it'd be a shame to break them down. A while ago, I went to the oldest brick house in the Netherlands. It's from 1220 and with restorations still serves as a tourist office and bar. If building from the 13th century can last that long and still be usable, I don't see why other buildings couldn't. And a lot of old buildings simply emit a sort of class in architecture that you just don't see anymore.

Wells

My office is in a refurbished old mill. It's badass.

TWilson

Vig thank you so much for that link. I lost it years ago. I LOVE that site.

I've had a fascination with abandoned buildings and vehicles for a long time. It began when our car broke down on a family trip and I found an old abandoned school bus down the road in the trees. I went inside and found all kinds of interesting things from the person who had lived there long ago. I still have a stack of Popular Mechanics from the 1950s from the bus. They were already about 40 years old when I found them.

Realistically most of these buildings would take far more time and money to re-use than to just start from scratch and rebuild. They have harmful building materials and old pipes etc. I love to explore them though. They can be like a time machine. Really neat stuff.

If they can be re-used - awesome. I live in Vancouver ...there is literally construction on every single block right now building brand new shiny condos with 450 sq ft condos. It sucks balls.