Infected Interiors: Remodelling Contaminated Buildings

Abstract

Remodelling existing buildings is the process of significantly changing a host building or structure to accommodate new use. It differs to practices such as preservation and conservation in that it is the process of substantially altering an existing building. Remodelling could be described as a process that encourages a continuous approach to the adaptation of an enclosure or a site. The transformation of an existing structure is a procedure that initially consists of reading the site: a course of action that ensures solid or concealed matter such as the structure or the narrative of the building can be exposed and then developed as potential generators for the modification process - a course of action that Rodolfo Machado describes as: ‘... a process of providing a balance between the past and the future’ (Machado, 1976,
p. 27).

This is a paper about the transformation of existing buildings where the history or narrative of the place that is to be reused is complicated by political, ideological, or an odious previous function. A site or building is described as contaminated when its past is dominated by a previous use that is disagreeable or objectionable. The edification or censorship of these infections is a complex matter for the designer to consider in the remodelling process.
This paper examines three case studies where the designer has analysed and used the contamination of the building as a generator for remodelling. It suggests that there are three general approaches when using contamination as a starting point when significantly altering the interiors of infected existing buildings.