Title

Author(s)

Tobias Rabold

Affiliation

TU Berlin

DOI

https://doi.org/10.65686/XONQ3764

Keywords

Material Reuse, Spolia, Cultural Value

PP

802-809

How to Cite

Rabold, Tobias. “Doubting Spolia Adaptive Reuse of a Stone.” In Proceedings of the International Conference on Adaptive Reuse. Volume 1, edited by Andrea Crudeli, Francesca Molle, and Emanuele Carrai, 802–809. Firenze: STH Press, 2026.

Abstract

This paper offers a subjective and practice-based reflection on a small but conceptually charged design decision within the renovation of a modest summer cottage: the adaptive reuse of a single stone serving as the base for a new timber column. Although seemingly insignificant, the situation generated a deeper reconsideration of assumptions about atmosphere, authorship, and the contemporary culture of adaptive material reuse in architecture. Written intentionally in the first person and without external theory, the text traces how a personal fascination with atmospheric qualities and existing material collided with the resistance of a reused granite fence post that proved, quite simply, aesthetically unappealing. Faced with this ugliness, an unwillingness to accept the stone “as found” arose despite the authors previously held conviction that the scars and traces of reused elements enrich new spatial configurations. The physical act of chiselling the stone—slow, repetitive, oscillating between care and destruction – became a catalyst for questioning when adaptation becomes necessary and when acceptance becomes a moralistic posture rather than a meaningful architectural gesture. Through the lens of the stone, the paper argues that reuse alone is not inherently virtuous. Instead, the adaptive must precede the reuse also in the case of material reuse of architectural elements. Designers bear a responsibility to interpret, modify, and integrate existing materials with intention rather than treating them as ready-made tokens of authenticity. Adaptation reconnects matter to purpose; without it, reuse becomes mere accumulation. In reshaping the stone, it became apparent that intervention does not necessarily erase history but can enable a clearer and more meaningful relationship between an element and its new architectural role. Ultimately, this paper advocates for a reflective, critical, and situationally responsive approach to reuse materials—one that acknowledges the necessity of reuse in the face of planetary limits while resisting the unexamined aestheticization of the discarded.

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.