#1 Moved Here 4 Years Ago. Converted Victorian Church In England. Love This Room
#3 The Building Used For The Swimming Events At The 2008 Summer Olympics In Beijing Was Transformed Into This Dope-Looking Waterpark
When we think of architecture, we start picturing an entire complex process that gets to make a building from zero. But very often, architects work with what they’re already given, whether it’s defunct objects or abandoned buildings, and they have to work their way around them to give these ghosts an entirely new meaning and purpose.
Repurposed buildings also have power to revitalize communities. It often happens when industrial structures like old factories are remodeled into community centers—sites of leisure.
#4 In Germany There Is Waterpark Called Tropical Islands. It's A Literal Tropical Island Built Inside An Old Blimp Hangar
#6 My Gym Used To Be Part Of An Asylum Complex. The Pool Used To Be A Church And The Confession Booths Are Now A Sauna
According to Kaelan Burkett, an author at Architizer, “repurposed buildings are not simply reincarnations of their former selves; an arts center does not have the same relationship to a community as a factory.”
“But these projects do not act as replacements or departures from what preceded them, either. When architecture is successfully repurposed, it does not hide its history, but instead becomes a relic, projecting its identity into a new age, and embodying the contradictory qualities of tradition and innovation, of preservation and progress.”
#7 Vienna Gasometers: Gas Storage Tanks First Built In 1896 And Converted Into Mixed-Use Developments Between 1995 And 2001
#8 Niccolò Paganini Auditorium, Parma, Italy, An Abandoned Sugar Factory Converted Into A Concert Hall By Renzo Piano In 1996
#9 This Abandoned Church Was Purchased By Skaters And Renovated Into A Dream Park
Kaelan also claims that repurposing architecture is not a new concept. For example, “The Hagia Sophia has been rebuilt, redesigned and redecorated many times in its lives as a church, mosque and museum. Similarly, the Kremlin has housed many regimes since its 14th-century construction, and undergone a corresponding evolution of forms.” In such cases, the changing roles of architecture often reflect or enforce political ideologies and claims to power.
#10 My New Apartment Still Has The Original Molding From When It Was A Hotel Ballroom In 1923
#12 Stamba Hotel, Tbilisi, Georgia, Designed In 2018 By Adjara Group And Located In An Old Printing House
#16 My Town’s Library Is Under Construction, So They’re Using An Old Grocery Store As The Temporary Library
#19 The Grand Concourse Built In 1898. Once Train Station Is Now A Restaurant In Pittsburgh, PA
