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 process 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 fall 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 built 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 many 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 historical identity and complications. This essay 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 analysis 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. Available at: http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/evolution/evolution.htm [Accessed 1 May. 2014]. 13. Webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk, (2014). [ARCHIVED CONTENT] Design process | Rostron 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]. Pictures 15. 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].