The art of smart repurposing
"The art of doing repurposing in the smart way is to know exactly what, in your context, is asked for" says Prof. Gerhard Schmitt in Climate Control Middle East.
What makes the repurposing of buildings both smart and responsive? “It is smart, because it saves cost and time, and it is responsive, because it assigns a new function to existing architecture,” says Prof. Gerhard Schmitt, professor of Information Architecture at ETH Zurich and principal investigator of Cooling Singapore. In the article external page"The art of smart repurposing" in external pageClimate Control Middle East, Prof. Schmitt explains how to ensure buildings are repurposed in the most optimal way and the importance of designing buildings with long-term repurposing in mind.
The way cities over the world approach urban planning has massive scope for improvement, according to Prof. Schmitt. He postulates that the human factor, which is the most important element when it comes to building designing and redesigning, is often overlooked due to near sightedness.
To ensure buildings are repurposed in the most optimal way, Prof. Schmitt urges stakeholders to reflect on their motivations for repurposing. "The art of doing repurposing in the smart way is to know exactly what, in your context, is asked for", he says.
From a macro perspective, repurposing spaces requires many considerations beyond just the structural integrity of buildings. There needs to be stronger collaboration among public-sector entities to determine whether to keep or not to keep places considering their importance to people and communities, explains Prof. Schmitt.
Prof. Schmitt believes that technology can help people understand better which buildings are worth keeping and which are not and also be further integrated to optimise the repurposing process. “The invasiveness of repurposing a building is going down with technology", he says.
The only way to ensure the quality of repurposed buildings is to design the initial building with future repurposing in mind. Prof Schmitt points out, “it’s about thinking of what lies ahead and what is needed in the future. This makes a lot of sense, and architects should put that in the design brief that a structure should consider being repurposed for environmentally friendly use afterwards and that can be integrated in the structure’s design.”
Prof. Schmitt also suggests that developers and government bodies can work with scientists and research institutes to look into different kinds of simulations and future productions than current ones, in order to really usher a shift in city and building plans.