Reassembly

Abstract

The story of post-industrial urban decline in America is well known. Bustling cities fall victim to changing economic structures and globalization. Wealth moves out of city centers, leaving behind evacuated buildings and vacant lots where houses once stood and transforming vibrant neighborhoods into sparsely populated areas that lack the density necessary to sustain urban life. Municipalities deem abandoned buildings “blight” and assemble task forces to eradicate them. In response to this pressing urban reality, we have been developing a speculative approach to reusing buildings and materials called “reassembly.” Reassembly views a building’s materiality as a matter-of-fact, as a resource for architecture stripped of the negative assumptions commonly associated with disused properties. Building components are taken apart, moved around, piled up, and mixed with new construction to create alternative uses and forms