373R_Adaptability of buildings: A critical review on the concept evolution (research debate)
Are you interested in repurposing existing urban buildings and infrastructure? Debate of the article titled Adaptability of buildings: A critical review on the concept evolution from 2021, by Rand Askar, Luís Bragança, and Helena Gervásio, published in the MDPI Applied Sciences journal.This is a great preparation to our next interview with Manfred Schrenk in episode 374 talking about the importance of repurposing the urban context to the future. Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see the urban adaptability concept in a critical light. This article presents adaptability in buildings as a concept and its evolution over time, its various interpretations and the strategies and models that promote it.Find the article through this link.Abstract: Our ever-evolving built environment is continuously facing emerging needs for housing, work, health, and mobility, among others. Yet, buildings are usually designed and set up as finished permanent objects, reflecting the one constant scenario in mind of defined form, function, and performance. Since change is increasingly inevitable in our life, enlarging buildings’ adaptive capacities in response to arising variables and changing conditions over their lifecycle becomes a necessity in seeking global sustainability demands. The concept of building adaptability has been a notable subject in this respect, increasingly stimulating and proposing regenerative alternatives to today’s often obsolete buildings. This paper critically reviews the existing body of knowledge on the concept of adaptability in building research. The main focus is made on the evolution of the concept interpretations and related paradigms, and on the development of its applications and strategies in the light of promoting models and trends. Drawing on the literature as a source of evidence, the paper analyzes and classifies the content of existing studies published in scientific journals and gray literature, focusing on a timeframe from 2015 up-to-date. Moreover, the paper aims to build a constructive discussion to identify potential gaps between the actual state of the art and emerging needs, which should be addressed by further research.Connected episodes you might be interested in:No.263R - Why affordable, social and public housing must be redefined as economic infrastructureNo.264 - Interview with Robert Pradolin about affordable housingYou can find the transcript through this link.What was the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter @WTF4Cities or on the wtf4cities.com website where the shownotes are also available.I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.Episode generated with Descript assistance (affiliate link).Music by Lesfm from Pixabay
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