Why New Isn't Always Better for City Redevelopment
When I think of award-winning architect, my mind takes me to the revolutionary work of Frank Gehry or Zaha Hadid, both decorated architects with celebrity unmatched by many in the field. From the curving facade of the Heydar Aliyev Cultural Centre to the iconic Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, these buildings stand as an emblem of the architects' creativity, vision, and execution.
So when the 2021 Pritzker Prize went to French architects Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippine Vassal, it was a big deal. For the last 30 years, Lacaton & Vassal have been designing projects with a simple philosophy:
"Never demolish, never remove or replace, always add, transform, and reuse!"
This principle has been repeated countless times throughout their 3 decades of work, amassing an impressive portfolio of work, including one project in particular that makes me smile ear-to-ear.
The 2017 public housing project in Bordeaux is different from most projects that earn Pritzker nods because it puts the people first. Instead of gleaming skyscrapers or gravity-defying structures imagined by past prizewinners, this social housing project defined the architects' desire to understand the needs of its inhabitants, while accounting for the financial and environmental costs.
Throughout the process, the architects met with the residents and listened to their needs. To most, it was important that the improvements not displace them, yet provide additional space to the already cramped living quarters, while beautifying the dull grey exterior — a seemingly impossible task for any old building with no literal space to expand.
Instead of demolishing and rebuilding the structure, the architects designed a glass-encased outdoor terrace, defined by its uniform structure and minimal partitions, wrapping both sides of the multi-story buildings that housed over 500 residents.
Their study considered the needs of the residents and proposed a space based on the ideal use — a sun-lit "outdoor" area to stretch out with glass sliding doors that provided an indoor-outdoor feel for each resident.
The icing on top? The cost.
Not only did Lacaton & Vassal beautify the building with a shining new glass facade that created more living space for its residents, but the project was less expensive and more environmentally sustainable.
Reframing the scope in the PD phase from rebuilding to remodeling reduced the amount of demolition, new material, and labor effort. With a modular-design, each terrace was was built as a minimalist, portable, and stackable unit, which made cost-effective prefabricated construction a viable option.
Minimalism is not less, less is less
In the case of minimalist design, we often think about reduction — removing interior walls, open space, clean paint, modernist furniture, and sharp lines. But minimalism in this sense is just a style, not an actual process of reduction.
Drawing similarities to the Bordeaux renovation project, MUJI has formed a partnership with Urban Renaissance Agency in Japan, focusing on a project in renovation called MUJI X UR. The project focuses on revitalizing old, abandoned apartment buildings once designed as "multi-dwelling units" in the 50s and converting them to match the minimalist styles familiar in their Muji Yo no le home without demolition or deconstruction.
By repurposing the structures, Muji's collaboration will create new, modern housing stock to meet the growing needs of a city and shifting tastes of a population. In the process, this renovation project will actively reduce the embodied carbon emissions and bring needed housing stock to a growing population.
This practice of reinventing over rebuilding is a construction practice that can and should be adopted in older cities with historical buildings set within large metropolitan areas. The benefits are measurably large and growing:
Reduce embodied carbon emissions generated in the creation of new building materials (11% of global GHG emissions)
Reduce emissions associated with labor and machinery required to demolish old structures
Reduce the amount of neighborhood impact from demolition debris and construction labor force
I'm hopeful for a future that understands the need for housing and embraces repurposing over replacing.