Recycling of Waste Buildings Essay -- Buildings as Living Organisms

Introduction In nature there is a system, which operates, in such a way that there is no waste. Nutrients and metabolisms go through a cycle, going through different transformations. One simple cycle is the performance of exhalation of carbon dioxide. Animals and human beings exhale carbon dioxide, which is taken in by plants, as it is an important component for its food making process called photosynthesis. Leaves that deterioration to the ground are naturally broken down into nutrients for the soil and fertilisers for trees. (McDonough and Braungart, 2002, Pg. 92) These relationship cycles in nature can be applied in architecture as well. Buildings as living organisms constantly change in time. It could be due to a change in use, weathering, and vandalism or by the materials that they are construct with. They grow and degenerate, absorbing the unnecessary that they find in their surroundings and setting free whatever is no longer needed. (Hinte, Peeren and Jongert, 2007, Pg. 18) When we recycle buildings, there are some strategies that can be applied, reusing the facade, and incorporating materials, which remain on site and even by encapsulation. There are various approaches as each derelict building has its diachronic identity and complications. This audition explores typologies of derelict buildings around Manchester as case studies and explores the strategies used. Some strategies reuse materials that are found on site. There will be an epitome whereby building materials would be extracted, either for it to be restored and incorporated into the new design or totally reformed into a different material for different use. This essay looks into the similarities of biological cycles and building-recycling taking different perspective to building r... .... online HowStuffWorks. purchasable at http//science.howstuffworks.com/life/evolution/evolution.htm Accessed 1 May. 2014.13.Webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk, (2014). ARCHIVED CONTENT Design process R ostron Brow Building for Life. online Available at http//webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110107165544/http//www.buildingforlife.org/case-studies/rostron-brow/design-process Accessed 1 May. 2014.14.Rose, J. (2014). In The Face Of Disaster, Pritzker Winner Shigeru Ban Designs Solutions. online NPR.org. Available at http//www.npr.org/2014/03/24/292420643/pritzker-winner-shigeru-ban-designs-solutions-in-the-face-of-disaster Accessed 1 May. 2014.Pictures15.Fig. 1 http//biologos.org/uploads/static-content/Figure_1.png. (2014). image Available at http//biologos.org/uploads/static-content/Figure_1.png Accessed 1 May. 2014.