Reinventing space and self: stories of habitation through the adaptation of the modern British military and religious material past

Thesis

The past lives of buildings, manifested in the physical, conceptual and metaphorical overlays of memories, materials, narratives, and flows, provide fertile ground for the three-dimensional exploration and interpretation of history. Typologically specific, geometrically unique and purpose-built buildings, constructed for an official capacity to satisfy a very specific need at a very specific moment in time are particularly rife with historical references and potential. No longer useful, they may be re-introduced to society as living heritage with a drastic change in program through adaptive reuse. The adaptive reuse of ‘difficult’ or ‘unusual’ projects can reveal otherwise dormant events and connections by creating a state of heightened awareness, while their conversion into residences is particularly revealing, as the residential is a notoriously demanding and body- and sensory-centric typology, often at odds with the structure’s original use. With these considerations in mind, the nine chosen case studies investigated are purpose-built discarded military and religious structures throughout the UK from 1800 onwards that have been filled with residential programme starting in the 1970s. The original sites are assessed historically, and the impacts of architects, dwellers, and historians are reflected upon.

Aiming to look at, ‘read’ and write about buildings in a different way, the case studies are considered through a combination of archival traces, theoretical models, oral histories, and site visitation/interpretation. The classical architectural history paradigm focusing on provenance, style, treatment of the exterior, and archival sources is recalibrated also to assess of interior exploration through use, storytelling, and the sensorial experience of the body of the inhabitant through time. The building is viewed as a process, not an object, while the lives of the buildings, the inhabitants, and the historical and cultural landscapes are viewed as snapshots. As a result, the background of living is brought to the foreground, and more contemporarily meaningful spaces can be created combining the imagined past, realised present, and potential future to reveal a renewed sense of self and community.

Authors: Colakis, M

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-4rb67gabk
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: adaptive reuse of religious buildings; adaptive reuse of military buildings; phenomenology; conversion into residences
• Subjects: Buildings--Remodeling for other use; Phenomenology; Architecture--Great Britain--History--19th century; Architecture--England--History--20th century; Architecture--England