The present research attempts a methodology of approach of the industrial legacy and, more precisely, of matters that concern the procedure of adaptation of industrial buildings to a new function- through every intervention of their reuse and upgrade- by examining components, parameters, methodologies and targets. It highlights the exploitation of the dynamic-potential industrial buildings stock, analyses the components and gathers practical solutions.
In the first chapter of the assignment, the concepts of industrial legacy and the importance of its preservation are presented. A global acquaintance is made, so as to be documented with certainty the general ascertainment of the importance of reservation of the industrial legacy and the multidimensional way that it effects the local landscape.
Then, a thorough analysis of the industrial building in relation to the evolution of its shell is to follow, as well as the criteria of its architectural design and assessment. The morphological characteristics of the edifice are to be compared, in order to ascertain the creation of a typological distinction.
The third chapter documents the phenomenon of empty existing industrial shells and the procedure of their reuse as a result of social evolution. Social, economic and environmental components, legal restrictions and moral factors are analysed. A simple method of approaching the challenge of reusing the shells is attempted. Finally, we are presented with the interplay between the relation of historic and modern and the tendencies of reuse, through modern incarnations of industrial buildings of the European world.
Overall, the research constitutes a field of concern on matters of reservation, redesign and reuse of the industrial buildings stock. Aspects of the rescue procedure of the technical civilization are presented through an in depth dialogue of the past, present and future.
It is to be proved that the aim of the reuse, through a combination of the historic and the modern, is the creation of a technological and cultural pole that will interrelate the historic memories of the past with the developmental perspectives of the future, providing solutions to important problems of the modern city- that entail the historic memory, the revitalization of areas and the finding of valuable space in its web. Besides, the ability of flexible thought and action in the field of architecture is a solution for the satisfaction of the demands of a potentially evolving society.
The redesign and reconstruction of an industrial shell owes to be made with main concern the respect to the values it entails. Every new intervention to an industrial building is conversed, assessed or self-voided in regards to the relations it forms.