Deconstruction, International Symposium on Off-site Reuse in Architecture. TU Delft, 24-25 April 2017.
Off-site reuse, in the sense of the salvaging of building components and materials from buildings that have reached the end of their life-cycle, in order to reuse them elsewhere, has been a common practice for centuries.
Today, the idea is once again gaining momentum as the linear modes of materials consumption proper to the age of industrialization are being questioned.
Yet, in a highly streamlined building industry, many obstacles need to be overcome to make these practices more than marginal again. Legislations need to be rewritten, certification protocols to be reinvented; designers need to change habits, engineers to rethink component assembly technologies, etc. In the past decade, a series of experts and practitioners, designers and deconstruction professionals have pushed this agenda and made some valuable progress. This symposium will bring several of these actors together in order to gauge where we stand now, and what lies ahead, what progress is within reach, in terms of engineering, design and overall policy.
The breached topics will fall under the following headings:
– How to deconstruct existing buildings slated for demolition practically? What are the technological, logistical and administrative implications.
– What design challenges, but also opportunities lie in the integration of existing components in new structures?
– How to design buildings in such a way that you maximize its potential for later reuse. On site, but also off-site. Is the “legolization” of the building industry within reach? And is it desirable?
More information and the symposium programme can be accessed on the symposium website.