Almost all of the cities in the developed world, even precious historic sites such as Venice, underwent drastic transformations after the introduction of industrial machinery. Train yards, factories, warehouses, mobile cranes, and working class tenements, were reproduced everywhere, radically subverting the cohesion of traditional urban fabric. Aside from this generally negative impact on urban form, during the current age of Climate Change, one tends to chastise industrial civilization for its dominant role in the excessive buildup of CO2 and other greenhouse gasses. Paul Crutzen and many other authoritative proponents of the theory of the Anthropocene mark the origin of this new geological period at 1784 with the introduction of James Watt’s steam engine. That the Industrial Revolution generated an unmatched creation of wealth, while producing unmitigated environmental and social calamities, goes without saying, but what critics often overlook is the profound architectural and urban impact of industry.
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While artists during the 20th century had frequently adapted to industrial spaces for their needs, the general cultural attention to the legacy of industrial architecture began in the 1950s in the UK, the home of the industrial revolution. The concept of “Industrial archaeology” was popularized by Kenneth Hudson in his 1963 text Industrial Archaeology: an Introduction, which was followed by the foundation, first in the US and then in Britain, of various associations for the preservation of industrial structures as historic patrimony. The first acknowledgement occurred in 1934 with the recognition of the Iron Bridge at Coalbrookdale built in 1777 as a national monument. In 1978 this site became the locus of the first international convention on industrial monuments. During the same year the cotton mills of Lowell, Massachusetts figure 2, began to be converted into a National Historic Park as museums of industry. Currently UNESCO’s world heritage list includes nearly 100 industrial sites (mostly in the US, UK and Canada). The heritage factor often confounds the question of what to do with unused industrial buildings and their territories, whether to treat them as immutable artifacts of historic value or as a fresh palette for creative additions. ... ...
written by Richard Ingersoll

In our urban environments; local, national and global – on all continents - we see increased juxtapositions between the existing, and the new, the innovative and even the (what may appear as) impulsive, or outlandish. Each neighbourhood has their own gems, whether they are rogue or hidden, or even long forgotten, run down or demolished. We must remember that people have connections to buildings and that buildings have served in a different capacity in the past, then may have been left to step back to make way for the new and the bigger, the bolder or economically or politically more viable architecture and infrastructure. Whilst many buildings have been demolished and replaced by new schemes, many remain on death row awaiting demolition, or if lucky; a new future, a new purpose, a total repair and reinvention.
Industrial buildings can be particularly challenging, however many rewarding and successful projects are derived from the original use of buildings and their heritage. Industrial buildings are particularly interesting due to their robustness and large open plan spaces, inviting opportunities. In this essay, I discuss some of these projects; industrial buildings that are reinvented for new use, whilst respectfully celebrating their architectural and industrial heritage.
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written by Heidi Saarinen