What to do with old buildings?
mod
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...
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...
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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).
Depends of where it is located though, of course and if there is an investor.
New York Institute of Technology was the school I went to...
...that was why I commuted instead of dorming.
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
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.
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.
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.