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maltatoday | SUNDAY • 21 MARCH 2021 6 ARCHITECTURE Adapting and reusing our built KARL CAMILLERI THE prefix "re-" is placed before a word to alter its meaning and convey something totally dif- ferent. It can refer to an action happening "again" or "before", indicating iteration or intensi- fication. Similarly in architec- ture, the reuse of a preexisting building, suggests working on a structure which has already been built, with the aim of in- jecting new life into it. It rep- resents a transformation, a re- interpretation, a substitution, in a cycle that has lost its value, interest or functional use. Most- ly known as adaptive reuse or adaptive intervention, it is today one of the most important re- search strands of architectural practice across Europe. Architectural culture features a long tradition of interven- tions on the preexisting, with examples dating a far back as 14th Century Renaissance Florence. The Italian School of Architecture has, in fact, al- ways had a strong relationship with the past and the idea that tradition and history should not be forgotten. It, therefore, comes as no surprise that, the modern theory of architectural restoration, which provides a framework for the con-serva- tion and restoration of historic buildings, was formed in Ven- ice in 1964. When dealing with the resto- ration of a pre-existing build- ing, one must understand that the term can have a very broad meaning and incorpo- rate many strands of the archi- tectural field within it. The act of restoring goes beyond the clean-up of a material surface, or the consolidation of a weak structure; it includes the devel- op-ment of a strategy for the regeneration of the building, while creatively preserving the narrative of the past. A common mistake is to nar- rowly refer to restoration as something reserved solely for heritage buildings of signifi- cant historical importance, by crystallising them in time with the scope of preservation. Con- trary to this, restoration theory deals with time, and the histor- ic instance of what the build- ing once served, but above all, how it can still be relevant in the future. Our built heritage recounts the many stories of who we are, of our cities, of our traditions. The primary scope should be that of preserving this identity, by repurposing a building and adapting the ex- isting use of a space, through careful and thought-out inter- ventions. We refer to this as continuity. Building in the existing fabric requires more thought, effort and time than a simple, quick- fit intervention, which seems to be the go-to solution in to- day's fast way of doing things, where immediate gratification is the order of the day. The adaptive reuse of buildings poses the fundamental ques- tions of how the past should be incorporated in the design for the future, and how the chang- es in the current building can complement the new functions being proposed. This re-ap- propriation of a pre-existing space, is the predominant and widely working condition for most contemporary architec- tural practices in the world, where a number of important considerations in their projects include: decreasing the spread of an urban territory by not ac- commodating new buildings, as well as an approach towards a development being more en- vironmentally, economically and socially sustainable. As architecture continuous- ly influences people's lives, all key players in the field have an enormous responsibil-ity towards each other, the plan- et and the future of our cities. Sustainability, a common buz- zword articulated by different sectors within today's society, is highly impacted by the build- ing industry and the architec- ture profession as a whole. A significant and pragmatic way of putting the real meaning of this term into practice, is sim- ply by restoring an existing building - more specifically by reusing, repurposing, recover- ing, renovating, read-justing, reappropriating it. Thus introducing into a project the recognition, opti- misation and respect for the available resources, reflecting a logical escape from pure con- sumption. For a restoration project, but ultimately for every interven- tion in the built environment to be relevant, it must strive to achieve harmony between what is present and its eventual addition. In architectural the- ory, we speak about dialogue (a strong relationship) with its surroundings and its context. To put it quite frankly, the easiest solution to a site is to pull everything down and re- build something new, pertain- ing only to the confines of the plot; and looking around us in every Maltese town, village and San Michele in Borgo Monastery turned Residential Complex, Pisa by Architect Massimo Carmassi (2002). Photo by Mario Ciampi Karl Camilleri