Appreciation and Renovation of Existing Buildings
In German, the term “Denkmalpflege” encourages us to reflect on something and to care for it. The current need to reduce our greenhouse gas footprint and take better care of the Earth is shifting our perspective and leading us to reflect on the significance of everyday buildings:
They are now less like objects that can be demolished after use for economic reasons. This requires a broader appreciation and recognition of good everyday buildings that goes beyond their monetary value. When we value a building—as a society and as individuals—we are reluctant to discard it; instead, we find an appropriate use for it and accept its quirks.
How can we, as planners, help owners recognize and make use of the qualities of their “everyday built environment worthy of preservation”?
This involves using an analytical method for dealing with existing buildings and their surroundings. The appreciation analysis applied here, which originates from a Danish discourse on planning and renovation, has already sparked interest and curiosity among experts throughout Germany. It has been taught for several years in the architecture program at the Technical University of Applied Sciences Augsburg.
Degree Program:
M.A. in Architecture
Contact Person:
Prof. Mikala Holme Samsøe, Architect (BDA)
Symposium:
Substance? Symposium on Historic Preservation & Renovation Culture
Link to book publication:
Places with Substance
Download Publication
Heritage preservation offers relevant methods through which we can learn from our current approach to dealing with the fabric of everyday life.
One example of this is the “appreciation method” from a planning discourse in Denmark. The method is widely used and generally recognized in Danish practice and academia. It was originally developed there for the Danish Ministry of Culture to address historic preservation sites—and is now successfully and routinely applied to everyday architecture.
The “Appreciation of Everyday Built Environment” analysis method provides an overview of
- why the house, the development, or the urban space is special,
- where the most significant architectural and technical strengths and weaknesses lie,
- what the most important preservation values are,
- how the building should be treated to preserve, restore, or further develop its most important conservation values
The assessment analysis proposes five strategies for dealing with the existing building: repair, subtraction, reconstruction, transformation, and addition. Combinations of these strategies are also possible.
Architecture students at the Technical University of Applied Sciences Augsburg took a close look at a school building from the 1970s and examined how the building could be upgraded in terms of design, functionality, and energy efficiency.
The students’ design projects are categorized accordingly.
