Edwin H. Lewis Nonfiction 3rd Prize Solving the Environmental Crisis through Adaptive Thoughts and Adaptive Reuse

Sarah Kay Stephens

The environmental crisis is a convoluted and multifaceted problem that will not be solved with a single solution; addressing this crisis will require a combination of ideas. Architecture’s role in addressing the environmental crisis stems from its ability to influence the movement of societal ideals that supports a more sustainable built environment. New technologies are developing at increasing speeds, thus allowing for the creation of more efficient and sustainable new construction buildings. However, these new construction projects continue to generate carbon emissions regardless of the implementation of new technology that is intended to offset this carbon in the future. Therefore, the notion of adaptive reuse architecture provides a more sustainable approach to solving the environmental crisis because new technologies can be used to enhance existing infrastructure instead of creating new architecture. However, for architecture around the world to prioritize adaptive reuse and the benefits that it presents, a cultural shift must accompany this architectural shift. Wilfred Wang’s article points out that “‘to build in a sustainable way means not to build at all’ [therefore,] the replacement of existing built fabric cannot be the longterm goal of any society.” i Society must work alongside architecture to have any impact in addressing the environmental crisis. Here, the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary African Art will be analyzed as a case study to demonstrate how adaptive reuse projects can create exciting, sustainable architecture and contribute to a cultural shift in how we view architecture on the path to addressing the growing environmental crisis.

The Zeitz Museum of Contemporary African Art (MOCAA) is an adaptive reuse project completed in 2017 in Cape Town, South Africa by architects from Heatherwick Studio. As seen in Figure 1, the original massing was separated into a grain silo for storing maize, and a tower for grading maize. ii The design of the original structure relied heavily on how maize was used within the building to inform the design of its form; grain needed to be stored, therefore 42 compact cylindrical silos were created. When the infrastructure was adapted into the museum, the central silos were carved away, as seen in figure 2, to create a central atrium space for the museum. Light enters the museum by passing through fritted glass located on the rooftop sculpture garden, then bounces around the atrium inside. iii The atrium serves several functions; not only does it centralize the vertical circulation within the buildings, but the atrium functions as a light well to allow light to reach the basement and the internal exhibit spaces. The silos on the perimeter of the museum were converted into five floors of gallery space for exhibitions. As seen in figure 3, sections of the wall that were not integral to the structure were removed in the grading tower to allow room for three dimensional windows to be installed. These windows allow light into the museum during the day, then make the building appear to be a beacon on the harbor at night.

The original form of the Zeitz MOCAA was derived from the need to store large quantities of grain in close proximity to the conveniently located harbor used to transport that grain. However, with the rise of the shipping container industry, the huge silos were decommissioned, leaving this massive piece of infrastructure vacant. iv The Zeitz MOCAA adheres to the direct mission of adaptive reuse by reusing existing infrastructure for a new purpose. The architects changed the existing structure to address programmatic needs instead of building a new structure from scratch. As a result, a meaningful and historically rich project came to fruition without producing as much carbon emissions as a new construction building. The Zeitz MOCAA uses adaptive reuse to answer the question: what should we do with infrastructure when society no longer has a need for it? This is important because “architecture should serve the difficult task of providing for the longterm inhabitation of space instead of serving the media’s insatiable appetite for images’’. v Buildings do not just disappear once we no longer find them interesting, and adaptive reuse is often overlooked as a viable solution for creating beautiful architecture.

The Zeitz MOCAA reveals how adaptive reuse can appeal to the societal demands of glamourous architecture. Adaptive reuse projects are often regarded as “bread and butter commissions, enough to keep the office going, but not worthy of serious design ambition”. vi Long term, we must transition away from demanding shiny new buildings that produce beautiful images, however to start this cultural shift, it is important to design projects such as the Zeitz MOCAA which demonstrate exciting spatial qualities that thoughtful adaptive reuse can produce. Most of the grain silos maintain their original shape from the exterior, but as you enter the space, your perception of the once dark silos is disrupted to reveal light. The Atrium space (figure 2) within the museum is created from carving into the silos to expose geometry which always existed but was never seen. An architectural gesture of this scale would be considered wasteful if the building was new construction, but instead, this gesture reveals the beauty of the existing infrastructure.

In addition to exposing the spatial qualities that adaptive reuse can create, the frit on the skylights, which allows for light to pass through with limited solar heat gain, was designed by a local West African architect. The practice of using local artists to help create parts of the building is a sustainable practice for a community. Other parts of the building project failed to embrace this perspective, but the gesture is very important to unite and inspire communities to take ownership of a building, thus prolonging its longevity. This is an unintended effect that adaptive reuse has on a community; when you give a building to the community, they prolong the building’s life. Instead of constantly replacing the built fabric of communities, infrastructure needs to be written into their stories.

In order for adaptive reuse to extend beyond the preservation of materials, societies need to shift their architectural properties to align with addressing the environmental crisis. As society continues to push for blind innovation, new buildings will continue to be erected, and the environmental crisis will deepen. Changing our cultural footprint is just as important as changing our carbon footprint vii. Adaptive reuse provides a framework for sustainability, but it will not be able to solve the environmental crisis on its own. We can produce innovations because ideas compound, and our next step needs to be compounding architectural ideas to maximize our sustainability. The Zeitz MOCAA certainly has flaws, but the methodology behind its creation is a necessary exploration for the solution to the environmental crisis.