Title

Author(s)

Luca Esposito

Affiliation

Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II

DOI

https://doi.org/10.65686/VUBT5552

Keywords

Interior Reuse, Infraordinary, Panelak

PP

344-351

How to Cite

Esposito, Luca. “Interior Reuse Rewriting the Infra-Ordinary for Flexible Living.” In Proceedings of the International Conference on Adaptive Reuse. Volume 1, edited by Andrea Crudeli, Francesca Molle, and Emanuele Carrai, 344–351. Firenze: STH Press, 2026.

Abstract

In line with Renato De Fusco’s theoretical reflections, the relationship between containing space and its contents, as a system of signs, is defined by the binary (in italian) invaso/involucro: the envelope (involucro) with the role of signifier and the enclosure (invaso) as signified. It is in the enclosure—the place of interior design for the domestic—that the changing and varied nature of modern society is measured, the phenomenological locus of mutations. Interior design, with respect to the pre-existence of the enclosure, succeeds in the process of assigning new meanings. Then, whether in those regions where historical stratification is present or where the pre-existing architecture is ordinary or without precise qualities, we need to “inhabit the existing” by reviewing the usual terminology of Adaptive Reuse and accepting the use of Interior Reuse, for those interventions that particularly emphasize the architectural enclave. Starting from the doctoral research titled Interior Reuse: for flexible living, from theories to practices, from spaces to things (2025), edited by the author, a reflection is presented on how interior projects can completely rewrite the infra-ordinary and featureless pre-existence, including through the furniture system, for the definition of a possible flexibility. This thesis accepts what Vittorio Magnago Lampugnani has already argued: that to build in uncertain times, one must transform in order to create lasting values for a changing society. This theoretical reflection is supported by the architectural interventions of the duo Kilo/Honč, working in Bratislava, who interpret, through a process of sustainable adaptation, the type of popular housing called panelák, typical of the area between the Czech Republic and Slovakia, as a paradigmatic case of the Interior Reuse approach.

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.