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Urban Transformation Towards Premature Obsolescence Of Buildings
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A circular development in cities aims to create ecologically regenerative and resilient environments to transition towards a more sustainable future. This involves rethinking how we design, build, and disassemble, favoring reuse and regenerative cycles. The result is longer building lifespans and, therefore, helps reduce CO₂ emissions from the construction sector. For architects and city planners, the challenge lies in balancing between developing densification strategies to limit urban sprawl with preserving the built environment by extending lifecycles.
How does densification affect the demolition and lifespan of buildings in neighborhoods, and what are the possible circular transformations? The objectives of this research are to discuss changes in the built environment in relation to densification strategies and reflect on how these changes might support or hinder circular practices. The paper explores the evolution in building stock over time, using the city of Trondheim, Norway, as a case study. First, data on the existing building stock is analyzed to understand the location and age of various building types across different neighborhoods. Buildings are classified into five categories: low-density housing, high-density housing, public services, industrial and work-related buildings, leisure, and smaller constructions (such as garages, cabins, or sheds). This data is then compared with historical records of buildings being demolished and newly built structures from 2012 to 2021 to trace the transformation of the built environment. It includes information on building type, square meters, construction and demolition dates, and location. The data collected from the municipal cadaster is visualised using Geographical Information System (GIS) software to support a spatial neighborhood-based analysis. The results first present differences in the number of demolitions, building projects, and densification across city areas. Next, the study examines the age distribution within the five building categories. Two main findings emerge: variations in the neighborhood densification over the past decade, and differences in building lifespans across areas. This analysis supports projections for future urban developments, and identifies opportunities for circularity. Additionally, comparing the age of the current building stock with that of demolished buildings highlights the premature obsolescence of certain building types. The findings show that some categories are more prone to demolition or new construction. These results are discussed alongside urban planning and densification strategies, offering policy insights and supporting a contextualised approach to circular development
Energy-Efficient Retrofitting Strategies for Research Laboratory Buildings: Case Study at the University of Utah
Full text linkThis research study examined building performance and retrofitting strategies for reducing energy consumption in existing research laboratories. Research laboratory buildings are one of the most energy-intensive building typologies due to their high energy demands, complex building systems, and significant loads for mechanical cooling and ventilation. Retrofitting may extend building lifespan and improve their performance, energy consumption, carbon footprint, and occupants’ comfort. The study examined an existing research laboratory building at the University of Utah campus, utilizing a combination of research methods, such as archival and observational studies, field measurements, building envelope and HVAC systems assessment, and whole-building energy modeling and simulations. Actual energy consumption data was collected for three years and compared against simulated data. Five different retrofitting options were considered, where four options represented low-impact retrofits (improvements to the building envelope and interior lighting) and one option represented a deep-impact retrofit (improvements to the building envelope, interior lighting, and HVAC systems). These investigated retrofit options were simulated and compared to the building’s actual and simulated energy consumption data. The results show that the deep-impact retrofit option would have the highest impact on energy use savings (more than 50% energy savings), while the four low-impact retrofit options would have lower, but comparable results (between 22% and 27% energy savings). Therefore, improvements to the mechanical systems are necessary to significantly reduce energy consumption and the associated carbon footprint of existing research laboratory buildings, besides building envelope and lighting improvements
From School to Housing: A Typological Analysis for the Adaptive Reuse of Historic Public Schools in Oklahoma City, USA
Full text linkAbandoned historic schools in the USA have become a growing concern for urban communities, presenting a multifaceted issue that impacts social, environmental, and economic aspects of public life. Several factors contribute to the abandonment of historical public educational facilities, including demographic shifts, economic changes, and funding cuts. Since the postwar era, the economic and demographic decline of U.S. urban cores has left many interwar-period schools unmaintained and vacant. This neglect has led to informal occupation, declining neighborhood property values, increasing public maintenance costs, and, in many cases, demolitions. Focusing on Oklahoma City as a case study, this paper investigates the adaptive reuse viability of pre-World War 2 public schools. By analyzing 18 schools in the city’s urban core, we explore their typological characteristics through historical research, cluster analysis, and precedent study. Given the current housing affordability crisis in the USA, this study explores the possibility of repurposing historic school buildings into affordable housing, discussing the main design challenges associated with such conversions. Specifically, the reuse of historic schools into multifamily housing offers an opportunity to tackle housing affordability challenges while enhancing community values and meeting preservation goals.
The paper concludes with a set of design guidelines outlining key considerations for converting schools into residential use. The findings and recommendations can be generalized to similar contexts across the USA and other global cities facing concurrent issues of urban decay and housing shortage
Developing a Structured Framework for Enhanced Experience in KashiVishwanath Dhaam: A Confirmatory Factor Analysis
Full text linkTemple experiences are complex and multifaceted, encompassing spiritual, emotional, and social dimensions. Observing, understanding and analyzing these experiences can render important insights to authorities to make devotee journey memorable. There is abundant research done to explore the issues and experiences of devotees separately so there is already a strong background of parameters that influence the journey but no research is done holistically to study pleasant, spiritual encounters and devotee management in different temple spaces. Indeed, all these factors have magnificent capacity to influence cognitive behavior of its users. In a temple these constructs have a twofold role i) is being responsible for visit intentions, rituals, likeliness, temple shrine and precinct experience leading to ii) formation of memories. So, the researchers set out to identify the most dominant indicators of these constructs which would be organized during temple journey to intensify devotee interaction. To validate the efficacy of so formed model, in the temple complex of KashiVishwanath Dhaam, on a sample consisting of 200 devotees (both local & pilgrim) Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was employed. CFA is a technique that yields result for i) fitness of model with respect to data and ii) factor loadings, variance and covariance of the observed parameters. The aim of the study is to evaluate the psychometric properties of the individual indicators, through structured questionnaire, that contribute to the complete journey experience categorized under pleasant, spiritual and devotee management constructs. The findings revealed that the questionnaire has substantial validity for evaluation of pleasant journey (PJ) with three-factor model of 12 indicators, spiritual journey (SJ) with four-factor model of 18 indicators and devotee management (DM) with three factor model of 15 indicators. The indicators used for the study are distinct yet interconnected reflecting the complex nature of temple experiences. The study significantly represents a progression in the existing literature that highlights the significant aspects for enhanced temple experiences
Architectural Laboratories: Expanding the Field of Practice
Full text linkThis paper examines the emerging role of the laboratory in architecture, investigating how the "lab" framework has transcended its traditional scientific connotations to become integral to creative, practice-based fields. Historically understood as a controlled environment for producing reliable scientific facts, the laboratory has now been appropriated in interdisciplinary contexts, particularly in architecture, where the focus extends beyond the replication of scientific methods to the development of new research methodologies. This shift has been driven by architecture's inherent dualities—science vs. art, theory vs. practice, and living vs. non-living—compounded by increasing complexity in production. Through an exploration of laboratories in universities in detail the paper situates architecture within a possibility of a new practice supported by research. By engaging with thinkers like Bruno Latour, Karen Barad, and Bernard Stiegler, this study highlights the dynamic possibilities of architectural practice when rethinking material agency, data, and human/non-human relationships. It argues that architecture’s appropriation of the lab framework reflects a deeper engagement with the performative systems of matter, technology, and epistemology. Furthermore, the paper underscores the necessity of reconfiguring architectural practice to address contemporary challenges, by fostering new forms of action that transcend conventional boundaries of laboratory. Ultimately, this paper reveals how the laboratory in architecture is not merely a space for the application of scientific methods but a fertile ground for speculative practices and experimental methodologies that challenge established epistemological frameworks. Through this lens, the architect-agent becomes a connector, facilitating a process that resists total control and embraces open-ended, interactive systems, contributing to the creation of new forms of knowledge and practice
Architectural epistemology, existing buildings, and single-image modeling
Full text linkThis paper examines an alternative approach to creating a 3D digital model of an existing building on the basis of a single photograph. Rather than prioritizing comprehensive coverage or geometric accuracy, the method aims to highlight how the modelmaking process itself can generate architecturally specific knowledge. The paper describes modeling the Nishiki Market in Kyoto using principles of projective geometry and reverse perspective. By problematizing the construction process, the method discloses how a model may embody subjective interpretations and choices. The paper argues that this approach legitimizes producing models counter to prevailing conventions, as the process itself constitutes a form of situational architectural understanding, registered through traces of the modelmaker and the photograph’s perspective. Rather than foregrounding usefulness, this method values uncovering hidden assumptions and exposing the contingencies involved in constructing architectural knowledge
Analysing the role of the perceptual dimension in the formation of the urban third place
Full text linkUrban third places like parks, plazas, and cafes play a significant role in fostering social interaction, community engagement, and a sense of belonging in contemporary society, and this recognition is growing. It has been a subject of critical analysis across multiple disciplines and intellectual traditions. Although the term 'Third Place' has been the subject of considerable research for some time, a sensible investigation into the psychological needs of users broadens the study's scope, adding a new dimension to the research. This study's perceptual dimension focuses particularly on an individual's perceptions of the built environment of the urban third place.
It deals with how people perceive and experience these places. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the contribution of the perceptions that users generate in the formation of urban third places. Research begins with an understanding of this term and its significance in an urban environment. The theoretical approach interprets a perceptual dimension by analysing an individual's 'Sense of Place' in relation to the urban third place. A projective survey questionnaire further explores the concept. We decipher the qualitative observations of the survey using Nvivo, a software tool that supports both descriptive and inferential statistical inferences. The consideration of age versus the diverse perceptual needs of the users explains the interrelationship while making it convenient for the statistical analysis of the study's observations.
As a result, this research examines the significance of associations, identifies dominant perceptions, and analyses the possible patterns of the same across the identified age groups of the sample population. A statistical analysis of these observations offers insights to designers, planners, and policymakers in terms of prioritising users' experiences, needs, and preferences, i.e., sense of place, to accommodate the contemporary needs of the users in the practice of urban design at the human scale
Semiotics of Mirror-tile Artwork Decoration in Iranian-Islamic Architecture
Full text linkMirror-tile geometric Artwork is considered the last innovation of Iranian artists in the group of the fine arts. That utilizes, for the interior architecture and decoration of buildings. The use of pieces of glass-mirrors and Mirror-tile artwork has economic origins and recycling roots. In the beginning, the Glass-mirrors, which had been brought to Iran from Europe, break during transportation. Iranian artists and Muslim Craftsmen found an innovative way to take advantage of these broken pieces and used them as Mirror-tiles. Being wasteful is an act that is abhorred in Islam. In traditional Iranian-Islamic art, the mirror element, besides that has been one subject of aesthetics for decorating the architectural built-space, includes deep cultural concepts that have not been considering for various reasons. This research looks at semiotic signs from an analytical point of view and explaining the use of the Mirror-tile art in Iranian-Islamic architecture by quoting information from the analysis to understand the quality of architectural built-space decorated with the Mirror-tile art. Aim to introduce the real and genuine aspects of mirror art as an influential architectural element through the thoughts of its creators as a result, in this research, first, the concepts related to semiotic ideas are dealt with descriptively, and, with an analytical approach, a connection established between various theories. Mirror-tile art also contains tremendous amounts of meaning - messages that words can never describe. For these craftsmen, that's at the core of their creation. Among the mystics, the inner language is the language of Spirit and Truth, and the tools of that language are the symbol and indication. With the aim of the influence of the Persian mystical thoughts about the mirror, this study cum the available historical and contemporary sources and analyzing them deals with the hidden meanings in Mirror-tile artwork. Reveal its connection with mystical thoughts through Persian literature
Between Objective and Subjective Architectural Experiences: Conceptualizing Refractive Neuroarchitecture Phenomenology
Full text linkThis analytical essay is aimed at developing a conceptual framework to assess how people experience the built environment both objectively and subjectively through a critical literature review of neuroarchitecture, architectural phenomenology, and neurophenomenology. Whereas both modes of human experience with the built environment are inseparable in real life, they have often been evaluated as seemingly antithetical and distinct approaches. Our experiences with the environment are mediated by our brains, for instance, our brain’s neurophysiological responses to colors, shapes, or heights. Such experiences are universal. Also, our experiences are constantly refracted by our unconscious subjective and intersubjective sense-making filters in the brain. Based on the critical literature review and synthesis, this study conceptualizes a refractive neuroarchitecture phenomenology, which is defined as a study of humans’ subjective and intersubjective architectural experiences through an epistemological and methodological convergence of the first- and second-person phenomenological and third-person neuroscientific methods. This conceptualization would provide intellectual significance as it attempts to integrate both objective and subjective epistemology and methodology into architectural research. For a practical implication, it is expected to demonstrate the importance of the phenomenological aspect of architectural efficacy and ways of applying neuroscientific research for place-making, including urban renewal and historic preservation
The Scalability of Urban Agriculture: Chicago Case Studies
Full text linkUrban farming and community gardening are gaining popularity as strategies to address food insecurity and inequities in city life. Urban agriculture has been proposed as a way to enhance a city’s resilience. This concept is not new, as Ludwig Hilberseimer and Alfred Caldwell demonstrated in the 1940s when they envisioned a more resilient city for the industrialized world utilizing a decentralized, linear development model within a productive living landscape. In asserting that “small farms could solve mass poverty, mass unemployment and inflation– our great national disasters,” Caldwell presented a vision of small-scale farming as an act of resistance and empowerment for individuals, with the goal of initiating large-scale social and environmental transformation. This study takes Caldwell’s assertion as a starting point to investigate what we can learn from existing examples of urban agriculture in order to enhance urban resilience.
The research examines three distinct approaches to urban farming currently implemented in Chicago, aiming to extrapolate their scalability and impact on broader societal and environmental change. The selected cases represent a range of farming practices and organizational types, encompassing conventional raised bed farming, aquaponics, hydroponics, and permaculture. Organizational diversity is reflected in the inclusion of a large non-profit organization, a local community group, and a private entrepreneur. Each case is analyzed based on a) The specific approach to farming technologies and practices, b) The corresponding development and implementation process leading to fruition, c) Evaluation of its transformative effects on individuals and its broader societal and environmental impact, d) Identification of perceived opportunities or barriers to growth and long-term success. The study identifies numerous opportunities for scaling up and emphasizes the varied objectives in urban agriculture. To support the growth of urban agriculture within resilient cities, a comprehensive multi-faceted, multi-scalar framework is necessary