Grown from the Palimpsest

 Before a building can be constructed, the site has to be demolished or cleared. A blank slate must be swept over, providing a clean template to present the new project. But does this have to be the case?

With more constructions than ever before, it is more likely that a site will have a footprint of some previous building than not. Dealt with often in urban environments, the site must be analyzed for a demolition/removal or a partial to full restoration. If there is a new project proposed for the site, however, it is unlikely the previous element will remain. While in some cases necessary, it is critical and cost effective to examine the site's current structure for considerations. 

To start in the furthest and most extreme condition, a completely intact building and healthy structure can continue to serve its purpose. With effective testing to ensure structural stability and longevity, maintaining a previous structure and/or shell of a building is the most effective design strategy to eliminate importing, transporting, using, and wasting other materials. Programs for the future site can be more easily reworked into old buildings if the structure is modular and provides open floor plans. In this way, the building is acting as a shell for whatever wants to become of the space. Exceedingly high savings on materials and construction make this scenario the best case. But how often does this actually happen?

While an entire building restoration is best, the entire building may not be reliable for keeping. Another reason for conflict may be in the program or function of the incoming space. The previous building may not be suitable to meet the needs. In this condition, the supporting lower levels (or foundation) will be the next effective analysis to investigate. If the foundation can be restored, the prevention of extracting that base to then replace it with more material (concrete) will save an extremity of resources. From the beginning of digging out the site with extensive machines and energy to exporting the existing materials off-site to be discarded, to then be replaced by more of the same materials--which also requires machines and energy and time--it would be pivotal for the architects and the investors of the project to rely on the existing framework. This technique would still allow for most creative freedoms of the future building. 

More often than not, the foundation is either not considered for reuse or has been decided against reusing. While the previous structure has been eliminated, this still leaves an opportunity to reuse the materials of the previous building. This would save on energy to import new materials to the site, which often is one of the biggest expenditures of energy for a construction project. This method could also become a unique design gesture for a revitalization of the site's culture and architectural conditions. Materials and their appearance play a large role in the response of the building by its community. Reusing the materials from its ancestor could be recognized and provide a warm welcome for the new structure to its surrounding context.  

After this consideration, the natural conditions of the site can still be focused as a means of response. To clarify, the natural elements of the site should always be acknowledged. If there is nothing to salvage from the existing building, using materials from or nearby the site can still work as a mindful design approach. If extracting ground materials is a stage of the project, can the material become an element in the building itself? To elaborate, in any case, the soil from the site can be used as a fill for a mixed material for finishing or landscaping. Using the native soils will also best serve the softscapes to quickly replenish the land after construction. What can also be done with the native fabrics of the site? The roots and woods and barks and stones. Any natural texture can become a powerful architectural element in a built setting. Increasingly innovative strategies can be recognized in the design world as new natural construction panels and materials are being developed
. This can be investigated further.

This thinking of architecture introduces a word to better define and focus this idea; a palimpsest is a word that refers specifically to a piece of writing that has been erased before new writing has been drawn over. Traces of the previous writing can still be seen behind the new writing. In this way, something has been reused or altered but still has visible traces of its earlier form. Architecturally speaking, this refers to buildings that beautifully express their new purpose and identity for their people and also their previous use. It becomes a historical acknowledgment of materials, purpose, place, and culture; it can show the development of a culture through a single building. It is not a sterile replacement of an erased place, but a new growth from an ever-changing footprint. It is intentional, economical, realistic, colorful, layered, and beautiful. It is future architecture. 

An urban site along the Red River in Fargo, North Dakota. This site has been host to numerous buildings along the railroad.