Repurpose

borrow when to replace (borrow) the rock or soil material taken from one site to deposit for some specific purpose at another site was never actually intended? It was never intended to return borrowed woodland, wetlands, and farm landscapes used for urban development and other human development enterprises. We find ourselves in the twenty-first century having to consider returning portions of these borrowed landscapes as part of larger strategies to make our cities safer (from storm-caused floods, pollution, and other undesirable impacts), reducing the impacts of global warming, and instead improving water quality and increasing biodiversity. The objective of these giving back strategies is to enhance the resilience and health of environments we have altered and even erased from the Earth. Rebuilding wetlands, re-establishing woodlands, converting high water-consuming urban landscapes into less demanding ones by establishing drought-tolerant landscapes are examples of the growing areas of demand for the expertise of landscape architects. The process of rebuilding or giving back normally involves a great deal of catch-up as the economically driven consumption and utilization of the environment and its resources seem to leave dysfunctional landscapes at a faster pace than does the awareness of our political and governing mechanisms to mediate against the losses and resulting deleterious impacts.

Repurposing is an initiative that considers the reuse of built places, structures, and facilities that no longer serve new populations and economic initiatives that have replaced an earlier demographic or economy. In many cases repurposing will require retrofitting older facilities that no longer serve the needs of new users with new designs to accommodate the new uses or programming changes. Retrofitting with new designs may also be necessary to address changing environmental conditions such as rising sea levels or increased threats from flooding conditions in a region. Building retrofitting could include elevating structures or modifying the grounds to increase their water-holding capacity in the form of detention ponds or redirecting storm water to safer locations (such as wetlands, if they exist). Examples of facilities that may need to be retrofitted due to changing demographics include parks, commercial and industrial areas, and street landscapes. Adaptive reuse is the converting of structures or spaces for new uses of derelict and even abandoned buildings, such as commercial malls and whole districts, such as warehouses and industrial sites. Warehouse districts, because of their desirable close proximity to urban centers, are being converted into highly desirable and valued living and commercial space. Railroad rights-of-way no longer in use are being converted to walking trails and bicycle routes. Industrial zones have been converted to other purposes such as the industrial area of North London that was converted first as the venue for the London 2012 Olympics. Subsequently the same Olympic site was repurposed for outdoor recreation, new housing, and commercial uses.