Adapting the built legacy

Project implementation: Italy
Project development: Italy

Team of the Architecture for Heritage course in the Department of Architecture and Design at Politecnico di Torino.

"Adaptive reuse of the Built Legacy" brings together more than 40 design proposals developed by 130 international students, organized into teams across three academic years. This integrated design studio focuses on creating sustainable adaptive reuse strategies for dismissed buildings and urban sites in the post-industrial city of Turin. The underlying premise is that, in responding to the urgency of reducing the environmental impact of new construction through reuse of the existing built environment, “new functions must follow existing forms.”

The pedagogical and interdisciplinary approach combines architectural and urban design, architectural technology, and structural mechanics to explore the adaptive reuse potential of vacant or underused sites. These include both publicly owned buildings and other dismissed urban areas currently under debate, with the aim of injecting new life into spaces that risk abandonment.

The projects are based on 20 sites selected from the public assets portfolio of the Property Service of the City of Torino—an inventory of unused and on-sale city-owned building stock—as well as other significant dismissed sites across the city. Through these projects, students promote and encourage the reuse of Turin’s urban legacy as a driver of cultural, social, and environmental regeneration, in line with the 14th BIASP’s thematic axis “Refurbishing More and Building Green.”

Each year, the course concludes with an exhibition organized in collaboration with the Municipality of Turin and local stakeholders. Projects are presented through physical models and a booklet documenting the research-by-design process, using a common black–yellow–red color code (preserved–demolished–built). At this year’s Biennale, four projects across three sites are showcased. They illustrate a design process that begins by unpacking the “shearing layers of change” (site–structure–skin–systems), continues with critical drawings (preserved–added), and culminates in sections used as a multi-scalar design tool.

The proponent team, all affiliated with the Department of Architecture and Design at Politecnico di Torino, includes Elena Guidetti, Assistant Professor and Researcher; Michele Bonino, Head of Department; Emanuele Morezzi, Referent of the MSc in Architecture for Heritage; Matteo Robiglio, Professor leading the course Adaptive Reuse of the Built Legacy in the MSc program; Arch. Necdet Ayik; Arch. Ebru Emirbayer and Dr. Ludovica Rolando, tutors and collaborators in the course, along with international students from the past three academic years: Camila Cadena, Marvin Gronski, Nour Tabet, Melis Guher Ferah, Sahar Tajzadeh, Ahmet Can Basak, Shadi Masihi Pour, Kosar Mohammadi, Jessica Sagar, Laura Zotaj, Parisa Abna, Mahtab Fallah, Fatameh Zarnoosheh, and Belynda Aggad.

Participate in the program of debates, workshops and associated activities!

TODAY (10.10)

2:30 pm – table Risk-Free Periphery in the Context of Climate Change

4pm – table Knowing to Transform: Community Climate Risk Reduction and Adaptation Plans

6:30 pm – table Inclusive Adaptation: Nature-Based Solutions in the Peripheries

9am – Drawing Workshop: Oscar Niemeyer's Architecture in Ibirapuera Park and the Climate Challenge

IN THE NEXT DAYS (11 to 14.10)

ATTENTION the table Palmas: For 36 years, the ecological capital of Tocantins which would be held on 10/11 | 7pm was canceled.

11.10 and 12.10 | 9am – workshop Inventa(rio) Fronteiras: Playing for Multispecies Cities

11.10 | 10am – workshop Elémenterre teaching bag

11.10 | 11am – table Learning to inhabit the Anthropocene: the crisis of architecture

11.10 | 2pm – table Architecture for Learning and Civic Use

11.10 | 3pm – table Culture and Public Architecture

11.10 – 15h – workshop Elémenterre teaching bag

11.10 | 4pm – table Reconnecting with Nature & Circular Design

11.10 | 5pm – table Architecture of Belonging: Interpreting Heritage Through Place

12.10 | 10am – table Experience: Climate Refuges and Naturalized Public Spaces, with Eco-Neighborhood

12.10 | 10:30 am – table Childhoods and Climate: Climate Justice in Vulnerable Territories

12.10 | 10:30 am – Windsock Workshop with the Floating Collective

12.10 | 3pm – table Doing a lot with a little: architectures for a planet in transition with Esteban Benavides from Al Borde office

12.10 | 4:30 pm – table Earth – building a sustainable and democratic future

12.10 | 5:45 pm – table French presence at the Biennale and screening of the film AJAP – Albums of Young Architects and Landscape Architects

13.10 – activity Pantanal Action at IABsp

10/14 | 10am – table Urgent Panorama! Space as an act of permanence

14.10 | 6pm – Launch of the “Nature-Based Education” Guide

JOIN! IT'S ALL FREE!

And there's much more until October 19th!

NOTE OF CONDOLENCE

With deep sorrow, the Brazilian Institute of Architects – São Paulo Department (IABsp) mourns the passing of architect and landscape architect Kongjian Yu, a global leader in ecological urbanism, and the members of his team who accompanied him, tragically killed during the filming of a documentary. The institute is honored to have had him as a participant in the 14th São Paulo International Architecture Biennial, where his transformative vision strengthened the dialogue between global challenges and local realities. IABsp emphasizes that Yu's contribution, which transcends borders, will remain an inspiration for generations and expresses its condolences to China, to the families of all the deceased, to his friends, and to all those impacted by his genius and dedication. Read the full note here.

Politecnico di Torino, Department of Architecture and Design