A Prática da Reutilização na Arquitetura Europeia do Século XXI - Desafios e Oportunidades

Abstract

The last few decades have been marked by social, climate and housing crises. Resolving these crises requires profound paradigm shifts in various sectors, especially those directly related to the built environment. This dissertation highlights the practice of reusing construction elements in architecture as a potentially mitigating approach to these challenges. By encouraging the use of materials already in circulation in production and distribution chains - in models that counteract the extractive nature of contemporary construction practices - the reuse of construction components favours the rehabilitation and reactivation of existing buildings through strategies such as maintenance, renovation and, finally, urban mining. The aim is to highlight the practice of reusing construction elements, demonstrating its potential in the European architectural context of the 21st Century, through cases developed over the last 25 years. As such, case studies were collected, analysed and compiled, including initiatives, professionals, companies and research projects, culminating in an inventory of more than 150 works of architecture that incorporate reused elements in their construction. The systematisation and compilation of these inspiring models, which have the potential to inspire future practices, constituted the main contribution of the dissertation.