Re‐imagining existing architecture: Reflections on refurbishment in the age of sustainability

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to the range of philosophical issues that can encourage practitioners toward a reflective and meditative consideration of refurbishment as a way of re‐imagining existing architecture.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper critically reviews existing architecture literature and the emerging applied ethical enquiry in the built environment.

Findings

Refurbishment projects can help achieve an extension of the economic life for many buildings. The re‐imagining of buildings is far from merely being a technical exercise. By analogously considering a building as a human, various characteristics and traits can be found – a voice, emotions and memory. The messages that are recovered from buildings need to be decoded. The ongoing applied ethical enquiry based upon the responsive cohesion model is encouraging architects to reconsider the philosophical basis of their obligations to existing buildings.

Originality/value

The paper offers an applied consideration of three linked issues that can encourage a more meditative approach to re‐imagining architecture.

Citation

Mansfield, J.R. (2012), "Re‐imagining existing architecture: Reflections on refurbishment in the age of sustainability", Structural Survey, Vol. 30 No. 4, pp. 344-356. https://doi.org/10.1108/02630801211256698