Adaptive reuse for leftover urban landscape: ruins, remains, waste and monsters for an approaching genealogy of future

Purpose This paper aims to explore the topic of adaptive reuse referring to urban open spaces into a more-than-human perspective. It underlines that dealing with heritage means being part of an inherent and ongoing process of transformation and so that reuse is inextricably an adaptive practice, constantly facing mutations, and that adaptation is a coral practice that involves different kinds of users and makers, inclusive of human and not human livings. Design/methodology/approach This paper looks at the lexicon of abandonment, in search of the more essential and intense meanings of words, and at some pioneering practices in Europe to comprehend the aesthetic and ethical implications of adaptive reuse of neglected landscapes. Findings Processes of reuse involve many different communities of users who in turn continuously redesign the site, into a comprehensive, coral and conflicting collaboration, whose results are never given once for all and are both uncanny and beautiful, scaring and marvellous, like a monster. Practical implications Accepting the idea that humans are not the only users and makers of urban sites can widen the range of tools, methods and values involved in heritage adaptive reuse. Originality/value This paper tries to widen the meanings of adaptation into a multispecies perspective. It intends to broaden the range of agents that can be involved as users and makers, assuming a more-than-human point of view that is not yet commonly applied.

Automated summary

This paper explores the adaptive reuse of urban open spaces from a perspective that goes beyond human beings. It emphasizes that dealing with heritage involves a continuous process of transformation, and that reuse is a practice that constantly adapts to mutations. The practice of adaptation involves different types of users and makers, including both human and non-human beings.