Abandoned

MISSION[edit | edit source]

re-appropriate our built environment

Causing creative transformations of abandoned buildings & spaces; a systems-theory approach towards adaptive-reuse.

Introducing permaculture to abandoned spaces to net vibrant & innovative, multi-useful spaces.

Compiling an intelligent strategy to revive our neglected structures; integrating radical architecture, permaculture, design, systems theory, input and output schemes, food systems, imagination, and more.

FORWARD[edit | edit source]

welcome to the wild world; of the abandoned

Industrialism has a wake; as that tide wanes away . . . relics, remains, treasures, antiques, bones . . . this wealth of reminders begins to really adorn our shared landscape.

Yes they are testaments to overproduction, reminders of economic boom-bust, models of what not to do, and victims of quick-bucks; but our abandoned buildings are also eastereggs, ripe for rebirth. And they deserve our attention.

As we face this modern world, and all of its challenges (as we shoulder global warming, peak everything, & environmental collapse; as we innovate a body of solutions embracing holistic systems, integrated living, permaculture, earthen building, appropriate technology, green design, sustainable cities, and all the rest) we must not overlook our abandoned buildings. As failures of a dated system, they are our opportunity for a new one. If we wanted an inch, they gave us a topography.

Poetic & naked, breathtaking & tragic, messy & omens, addictive & grizzled, abstract & concrete, controversial; welcome to the marvelous, newold world of abandoned buildings.

Like babies, we built our environment. Stacking blocks and blocks in myopic grids, gutting the complex ecosystems we are now falling in love with, dispossessing the intricate webs we are now attempting to re-connect, we built our environment. It becomes clearer, and clearer, as we look around us. Our landscapes are becoming riddled in abandoned buildings; and something (a lot) needs to be done.

APPROACH[edit | edit source]

it's like dumpsterdiving; for buildings

Preparatory Contemplations[edit | edit source]

an abandoned building is already something[edit | edit source]

• start with what you've got; even if it seems like nothing, it's something
• an abandoned building is sleeping energy; ready for adaptation

detectives dig[edit | edit source]

• do your homework: dig through archives & histories; talk to the locals & all the nearby institutions; use the internet
• buildings -like people- often have layers & layers of fascinating stories to tell; build on these unique experiences
• consider angles of preservation: rescue & celebrate the peculiar components & the unique features

flow on[edit | edit source]

• if any qualities jump out, follow them; the transformation has just as much -if not more- to do with the building than it has to do with you

visionary trajectory[edit | edit source]

• realize the impacts the original architects and construction crew has wrought upon you, as you attempt to revive the building

what could they have done to smooth your process what shortcuts did they make which slow you down

• when possible, design flexibility into the building's restoration

know that, some day, the building will deteriorate and ruin once more . . . embrace user-friendly functionality material use, wiring/plumbing, & repairs minute installations often lead to huge headaches for everyone

Initial Approach[edit | edit source]

• think nothing. just observe, listen, & get to know the building
• sit across the street; behold the building from a nearby rooftop
• circumnavigate the building a dozen times; then a dozen more
• eat/sleep/sing/dance/drink tea; in as many areas as possible
• stand in the building's very center; draw geometric lines however they appear logical; pace them each
• stand in the building's very center; draw a spiral however it appears to uncoil; walk it slowly

The Pieces of Procedure Pie[edit | edit source]

Disposition - '(who is this building)'[edit | edit source]

the building's previous life(s) & intention(s); its personality food related, hotel, school, prison, theatre, etc. does its physical shape/design signify a unique usage the more information regarding its history, the better investigate the context is it part of a larger network of structures/should it be? does the building have any special relationships/should it?

Conditions - '(what is this building doing)'[edit | edit source]

diagnose the building's health; its degree of degradation reinforcements, restoration, continued maintenance dimensions area (of building & land) # of floors, # of walls is there an attic, a rooftop, a basement, a cellar . . .? carrying capacity

Setting - '(where is this building)'[edit | edit source]

bioregion flora & fauna, climate, weather, country government, squatter's rights, quirks, and particular surroundings/vicinity is there a local community

DATABASES[edit | edit source]

resources

websites[edit | edit source]

(im)possible living

artificial owl

urban-travel.org

web-urbanist

AbandonedButNotForgotten

Urban Ghosts Media

The Secret Apartment in the Mall

books[edit | edit source]

ninjalicious

dunites

Beneath the Neon: Life and Death in the Tunnels of Las Vegas