Title: Professor
Department: Architecture
College/School: School of Architecture
Showcase Course: ARCH 271 World Architecture and Urbanism (A)
Email: knute@hawaii.edu
“In most of what we think and do we don’t begin from zero, but rather from what we already know.”
Table of Contents
Teaching Philosophy
In most of what we think and do we don’t begin from zero, but rather from what we already know. Stored concepts rarely perfectly fit new situations, however. They usually need to be adjusted. “Adaptive reuse” of this kind is a fundamental thinking skill central to most disciplines. Its success depends on being able to accurately identify essential similarities and key differences between an existing model and a new situation. I have made developing these skills a central part of my teaching.
Adaptive Reuse as a Critical Thinking Skill
Teaching Practice
Adapting Mental Models
Educational theory suggests that the capacity to identify essential similarities and key differences between a new situation and one we have previously encountered is fundamental to learning. The use of stored models enables us to make use of our experience, conserve processing capacity and learn more quickly.
With this in mind, I have repurposed a core professional architectural skill—the adaptive reuse of existing buildings—as a tool for improving two fundamental critical thinking skills: identifying essential similarities and key differences between a new situation and an existing model. The application of adaptive reuse as a generalized critical thinking teaching tool is, I believe, unusual.
Adaptive Reuse in the World Architecture and Urbanism Course
The identification of essential similarities and key differences between building types and between specific cultural manifestations of those general types is central to the large undergraduate history of architecture survey course World Architecture and Urbanism (ARCH 271–A). These skills are emphasized throughout the course, from lectures and in-class quizzes to the final exam. Students are also given the opportunity to put these skills into practice in an adaptive reuse design project. The “New Lives for Old Buildings” assignment is intended to help them develop the following analytical skills:
Identifying underlying similarities between the spatial organization of an existing building and a new use that it was not originally designed to accommodate in order to minimize the changes necessary to repurpose the building.
Identifying key differences between the spatial organization of an existing building and a proposed new use that require adjusting before the building can effectively serve the proposed new purpose.
The “New Lives for Old Buildings” Adaptive Reuse Design Project
The project asks students to choose an existing historical building that interests them and adapt its form to a new contemporary use. It is intended to give students direct experience of a core professional architectural practice and help them improve their ability to identify essential similarities and key differences between a new situation and an existing model.
There are two primary assessment criteria for the “New Lives” project.
The first measure of success of architectural adaptive reuse is the degree of underlying similarity between the spatial organization of the existing building and the organization of the new institution it accommodates. The closer the parallels, the fewer changes to the existing building required, which not only reduces costs and carbon emissions but also helps to conserve material culture and place identity.
The second measure of success of architectural adaptive reuse is the quality of the changes made to the existing building to adapt its spaces for their proposed new roles. As part of their education in diversity, equity and inclusion, for example, a default requirement of the assignment is that adaptations must include making the chosen historic building fully accessible to young children, the elderly and disabled members of society.
What constitutes essential similarity and key differences will vary depending on the discipline, but the ability to makeappropriate adjustments to existing models, theories or principles in response to new circumstances is central to most fields of human endeavor, and different forms of adaptive reuse exercises could be an effective way of developing this critical skill in many disciplines.
Impact
The three primary instruments used to measure the effectiveness of the “New Lives for Old Buildings” project were Laulima-based student self-assessments, online course evaluations, and external assessments of the project by professional architects.
By the end of the New Lives project all 70 members of the spring fall 2024 class met the instructor’s expectations and were able to identify essential similarities and major differences between an existing historic building and a proposed new use.
More than half the class achieved an exemplary level of performance, meaning that they were not only able to identify essential similarities and major differences between a historic building and a new use but also made a range of detailed modifications that brought the historic building up to contemporary accessibility standards, building and fire codes.
A large majority of students reported that both their knowledge of and practical application of adaptive reuse skills had improved significantly as a result of the project, and that they felt this would positively impact their future careers.
Of four practicing architects asked to assess the adaptive reuse assignment, all believed it was relevant to professional practice and potentially applicable to other disciplines.