In the last century, the increased urban sprawl often dictated by speculative rather than demographic reasons, the concomitant decay of vast consolidated building (mainly but not only productive) due to the change of direction of the global market, and the growth of an ecological sensitivity increasingly energy and soil consumption have laid the foundations for the practice of “adaptive reuse”: a “radica”’ approach to renovation that consists in adapting an existing architectural asset to a use often completely different from the original one on the basis of new social and functional needs, without, however, compromising its and historical legacy. Thus, obsolete and abandoned buildings (those “unburied architectural corpses” that Ernesto Nathan Rogers spoke of) come back to life thanks to interventions in which the ability to interpret and enhance the context has not compromised an effective and contemporary lexicon in redesigning spaces for their new use. Domus has collected a few iconic examples of adaptive reuse: from interventions that transform a disused heritage into an epicentre of new creative (La Fábrica), cultural (Musée d'Orsay, 126 Tate Modern, Mattatoio Roma, Fondazione Prada, MOCAA) and social (Berghain, Highline New York) energies, to those that reinvent containers discarded by the production process in order to meet hospitality and housing needs, at reduced costs but without giving up the pleasure of experiencing them, again. (Cité ä Docks, Little River).
From abandoned spaces to iconic places: 10 adaptive reuse projects
We explore emblematic examples of regeneration where new uses have breathed new life, from the Tate Modern to Bofill’s Fabrica, via the Berghain and Gae Aulenti’s Musée d’Orsay.
Photo Mathieu from Adobe Stock
Photo Daliu from Adobe Stock
Photo Till F. Teenck from Wikipedia
Photo Mistervlad from Adobe Stock
Photo BasPhoto from Adobe Stock
Photo Asab80 from Adobe Stock
Photo Jensens from Wikipedia
Photo da Nicholas Gemini from wikimedia commons
Photo Alexandre Prevot from Flickr
Photo Bernard Spragg. NZ from wikimedia commons
Photo Gaetano Cessati from wikimedia commons
Photo Kir Simakov from Unsplash
Photo Petert2 from Adobe Stock
Photo Dbrnjhrj from Adobe Stock
Photo f11photo from Adobe Stock
View Article details
- Chiara Testoni
- 22 January 2025
Gae Aulenti's intervention concerned the transformation of the train station, designed by architect Victor Laloux, opened in 1900 and already obsolete in the 1940s, into a ‘’showcase" of French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masterpieces. The building was one of the first examples of conversion from railway station to museum.
The spaces of a former cement factory dating back to the 1920s have been renovated and transformed into the home-studio of the Spanish architect, who has breathed new life into a ruin through a process of transformation and adaptation that has lasted over time.
The conversion of the Bankside power station, built between 1947 and 1963 and dismantled in 1982, into a museum adopted a measured and essential approach, preserving the industrial character of the site and introducing some essential but striking gestures, such as the translucent roof ex novo from which natural light generously filters into the exhibition spaces.
Considered to be one of the world's most renowned underground clubs, Berghain has been housed since 2004 in the former premises of an East Berlin power station dating back to the time of the German Democratic Republic. The main hall is 18 metres high and can accommodate up to 1,500 people.
The student residence, built in just five months, houses 100 one-room apartments of 24 square metres each and is characterised by the aggregation of old shipping containers from the city's port and converted into housing units equipped with every comfort.
Nine Silos, once used to store food for animals, have been recovered and recycled to be used as a motel near Christchurch. The project includes eight two-storey silos (with two beds), one single-storey and a reception room, all with natural light and the necessary amenities. The two-storey “suites” house a living room, a kitchen and two bedrooms.
Located in a former gin distillery dating back to 1910 in the Largo Isarco industrial complex, the new Fondazione Prada headquarters complements the renovated historic buildings (including former warehouses, workshops and brewing silos) with three new buildings: a space for temporary exhibitions, a multimedia auditorium and a nine-storey permanent exhibition space for the foundation's collection and activities.
The world's largest museum dedicated to contemporary African art and its diaspora is housed in a 9,500 square metre building on nine floors, which previously served as a granary and was abandoned in 1990. The design enhances the solemn and monumental character of the building, excavating atrium inside it.
High Line is a 24-kilometre-long linear public park built on an abandoned elevated railway that stretches from the Meatpacking District to the Hudson Rail Yards in Manhattan. Inspired by the romantic charm of the post-industrial ruin, the project exalts a return of the built work to nature through a sequence of urban miroclimates (sunny, shady, wet, dry, windy and sheltered) that are distributed between pedestrian paths and densely planted areas.