I received an e-mail about the Interior Design program at RISD:
“A field at the intersection of architecture, conservation and design of the built environment, Interior Architecture takes an innovative approach to the reuse and transformation of existing buildings. Every built structure eventually faces three possibilities: demolition, preservation or adaptive reuse. RISD’s Interior Architecture Department has focused on the latter since 1947, when Ernst Lichtblau assumed leadership. An architect, designer and student of Otto Wagner, he changed the name and professional orientation of the department from Interior Design to Interior Architecture, which shifted the focus from the application of surface materials to understanding the design of ‘a building from the interior to the exterior.’ ”
Some great examples are museums!
The Tate used to be a power station. The Tate’s architects, Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, said this about their adaptive re-use: “This is a kind of Aikido strategy where you use your enemy’s energy for your own purposes. Instead of fighting it, you take all the energy and shape it in unexpected and new ways.”
The Musee D’Orsay used to be a train station.
PS1 used to be a school, and the building has hardly changed.
Repaired Things 