Koenraad Van Cleempoel

Assessing authenticity of nineteenth-century shopping passages.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the conservation and contemporary management of three nineteenth‐century shopping passages: the Galleries Saint‐Hubert in Brussels, the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan and the Passage in The Hague. The submission of the Galleries Saint‐Hubert to the World Heritage Tentative List in 2008, presents a unique opportunity for studying this typology in its contemporary environment.Design/methodology/approach – The authors’ research questions are: what are the characteristics of passages? what are their authentic values? and how can the authenticity of these buildings be conserved by their contemporary management? The applied methodology is a cross‐case‐comparison, based on the definition of authenticity as presented in the Nara Document on Authenticity. The analysis is presented in the form of a matrix.Findings – The findings show that the significant value of passages does not only include the architecture of the building but also the versatility of its ...

Aemulatio and the Interior Approach of Adaptive Reuse

ABSTRACT This paper describes an approach for the adaptive reuse of historic buildings that has not thus far received much attention. We have named this the “interior approach,” and it seems to be more “poetic,” drawing on the memory of the building, often represented in and through its interior features. The interior approach is not strictly restorative (although it sometimes includes restoration of certain fragments); neither is it an intervention in the modern sense of the word, showing a clear contrast between old and new. Instead, it promotes copying as a valuable methodology for intervention. In order to describe, clarify, and understand the interior approach towards adaptive reuse we have compared contemporary practice with the Renaissance concepts of translatio, imitatio, and aemulatio. By doing so we point to the different notions, nuances, and intentions that a copy might hold, in order to present copying as a valid strategy for adaptive reuse that holds it own next to other existing strategies.

Creating Sustainable Retail Interiors through Reuse of Historic Buildings

ABSTRACT Retail interiors are often refurbished far more regularly than other types of interiors. As such, retail design seems to further the discipline of interior design by creating innovative design solutions. However, with regard to following sustainable design and construction practices, retail may fall short compared with sectors such as public buildings or offices. The first section of this paper focuses on the definition of sustainable design and the tension between retail (design) and sustainability by examining some pertinent writings. Retail branding is proposed as a way to improve sustainability in retail design. The second section discusses the reuse of historic buildings as a means for retail branding and sustainable retail design. The architectural strategies for reuse defined by Graeme Brooker and Sally Stone–intervention, insertion, and installation–are illustrated with specific examples of retail environments, but equally this paper suggests that a fourth category may be added: confirmation.