Estoy investigando acerca de la revitalización de pueblos rurales deshabitados y empecé por revisar los casos exitosos para entender su estructura.

Good evening,

I would suggest that meanwhile use of vacant building tend to be a very complex issue which is to a great extend dependent on the local context, legislation, land and building ownership, taxation and many other factors. In this respect, I would suggest that the role of architecture, in it is narrow sense, to be a fairly limited one.

For example, different ownership of small properties and pieces of land is often seen as impediment to a meaningful renewal of vacant city areas, etc. This is probably even more so the case in areas that are not attractive to commercial developers.

Therefore, often with external funding support from the government or other development funding agencies, local municipalities or their agencies engage in the process of acquisition of existing properties and land in order to consolidate the land and make it more attractive for future development. As this process make take years they attempt to encourage meanwhile use of the newly acquired business. This may take a form of time limited use for start up seasonal shops (for Christmas or Easter period only), start up businesses, artists workshops, use by voluntary and community organisations and alike. This tend to be dependent on the appropriate interaction between the authorities and the communities in the area. The above is based on approaches observed in England for example.

With Best Wishes

Gracias por tu respuesta Vladimir

Thank you Sonia and Vladimir for your interest in my question. I appreciate your point of view, Vladimir Ladinski, maybe I have naively overstimated the role of architecture in big market-oriented urban projects. Thank you again for your contribution

Good afternoon Ambra,

I would suggest that when "menwhile use" is conisdered one of the most important thing is to make the area as lively, viable and sustainable as possible so that local population carry on visiting and maintaining links with the area.

You may be aware of the "Stack Newcastle" project which occupies that site of the former early 20th Century Odeon Cinema. The building ceased working number of years ago and was standing empty. As nothing was happening people stopped coming into the area, as there was no reason for them to be there. More recently the building was demolished and a 'container' development was errected providing small retail, catering, craft and event units within the locallity which has increased the attractivness of the location as well as the number of visitors (http://www.stacknewcastle.com/).

I would suggest that it is not the architecture, but the ability to provide a number of low rent spaces being available for small business to take the challenge and through early steps establish their presence and start building their businesses. Naturally, this has improved the vitalitty and the attractivness of the area. In my view, the architecture had importnat supporting role to play by innovative organisation and imaginative resuse of shipping containers.

With Best Wishes

Vladimir

Thank you again Vladimir Ladinski for your contribution, I am going to study the case of Newcastle for my state of the art.

Just a small clarification: when I say "architecture", I (probably incorrectly) mean the process that gives birth to the project. To me, the urban regeneration project does not arise either from an administrative act or from an abstract intuition of the architect, but from the continuous interaction between what I have defined "objective conditions", that are the available empty spaces, and “subjectivities”, or rather those who declare themselves willing to make use of such spaces in an experimental way.

The architectural project is therefore intended as a synthesis of this interaction, or rather as the capacity of governing the reactivation process. In that sense I agree with you when you say that the innovative organisation and the ability to take the challenge are the main important factor for the success of the project.

Hola a todos. La regeneración urbana involucra a todos los actores que hacen vida en el lugar: actores políticos (instituciones), privados (empresas) y la sociedad civil. No es el edificio el que atrae la gente, sino las actividades y el ambiente.

Good evening Ambra,

Thank you for your clarification. I assumed that that will be the case in relation to the architecture, but could not be certain.

There is another thing you may want to look at, but I do not know how easy is to obtain it this days. There used to be a think-thank called Building Futures that was linked with the Royal Institute of British Architect, but may no longer exist. In 2008 they published a game " The Building Futures game : developing shared visions for neighbourhoods". The game was expected to be played on public consultation events in order to help local communities shape the future for their neighborhood based on participants views. It was possible to order the tool kit directly from Building Futures, but I do not know if and where one can obtain it at present. I provide you with a link to the catalogue entry from the RIBA Library for information:

http://riba.sirsidynix.net.uk/uhtbin/cgisirsi/?ps=qkVNHA34Y8/MAIN_CAT/X/9

It does not appear to be available within the RIBA Bookshop, but the above details might help you locate a copy or similar.

I am suggesting it only as an interesting "vehicle" on how to attempt to obtain community views. Naturally, I do not know to what extent it may be suitable for a direct application within your local context.

With Best Wishes

Vladimir

Thank you very much for your interest and suggestion Vladimir Ladinski , I find it very interesting and I surely look it up. Thanks also to Sonia Sansone for your contribution in this small debate :)

Let's keep talking about it whenever someone has new ideas to share. all the best