Title

Author(s)

Emanuele Carrai

Affiliation

Dedalo Building Lab

DOI

https://doi.org/10.65686/MYVP3708

Keywords

Synchronisation, Relational Temporality, Adaptive Reuse

PP

26-31

How to Cite

Carrai, Emanuele. “A Wrinkle in Time. Adaptive Reuse as a Relational Practice.” In Proceedings of the International Conference on Adaptive Reuse. Volume 1, edited by Andrea Crudeli, Francesca Molle, and Emanuele Carrai, 26–31. Firenze: STH Press, 2026.

Abstract

Adaptive reuse is now one of the central topics of contemporary architectural design, both for its environmental implications and for its cultural relevance. In a context marked by the climate crisis, land consumption, and growing attention to the built heritage, working with existing structures appears not only as a technical choice but also as a critical position with respect to contemporary forms of transformation. Yet, despite the richness of the debate, adaptive reuse continues to be described through largely unchanged interpretive frameworks: as a balance between conservation and innovation, as a comparison between the existing building and the new intervention, or as a transition from an exhausted function to a new use. These interpretations have also been shaped by the assumptions of
restoration theory, consolidated after the long theoretical debate of the twentieth century, particularly around the principle of the recognizability of the restoration intervention and the importance of the historical instance (Brandi 1977). Both are fundamental principles, yet they can also lead to a partial reading of reuse and restoration projects.

Edited by
Andrea Crudeli
Francesca Molle
Emanuele Carrai

Publisher
STH Press, Firenze

ISBN Paperback – 9791281661141
ISBN Ebook – 9791281661158
DOI – https://doi.org/10.65686/SISY7263

Year
2026

Proceedings of
International Conference on Adaptive Reuse
hosted by The University of Pisa, Italy
15-19 September 2025, at the Gispoteca di Arte Antica dell’Università di Pisa.