Sledge

Sorry if the topic title is a little dry, but I couldn't think of another way to put it succinctly.

I had a conversation today with a friend who takes architecture classes at RISD, and I realized that the kind of buildings that strike me the most are the ones that were built for one purpose and were reconverted later for another.

For instance, La Musee d'Orsay, an Impressionist art museum in Paris, used to be a train station. You can tell from the construction of the ceiling, and the massive clock on its front face.

Likewise, there's a building here at my university that used to be a small gymnasium. It's since been turned into an academic building. The base floor is still a hard court, and the basketball markings are still repainted regularly to preserve the position of the place. There are chairs beneath the unused backboards, and the room is full of light through the high windows.

Anyway, I'm going to be basing an upcoming creative nonfiction essay on this theme of reconversion. Problem is, my two examples are the only two reconverted buildings I know of. So, since 28,260 heads are better than one, I was wondering if anyone could name me a couple (preferably well-known) reconverted buildings I could maybe use for my essay. Franks.

phredgreen

google is your friend.

http://www.google.com/search?sourcei...rted+buildings

*edit*

and here's the link for <b>converted</b> (not <b>re</b>converted) buildings:

http://www.google.com/search?sourcei...rted+buildings

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Mephisto2

First things first.

This is not reconversion, but simple conversion. Reconversion would be converting the building back again to its original purpose or condition. This is important if you plan a non-fiction essay on the topic. I don't mean to criticise, but simply point out a misunderstanding.

Now, with regards to the topic itself, I think you have hit on an interesting idea. Buildings used for purposes other than their original dot our urban landscape. There are several reasons for this. A desire to protect important, classical or architecturally important buildings. This usually means a "heritage listing" and the exterior being maintained whilst the inside is renovated. Other reasons can simply be economical. It is often more cost effective to "re-use" a building than knock it down and replace it. Finally, and in recent times, there has been an increase in the desirability of renovated or converted buildings. A lot of this stemmed from the Docklands renewals in London during the 80's. Many "warehose apartments" came onto the market. This in turn generated market interest and "coolness" for these kinds of buildings.

Excellent examples of buildings used for purposes not originally intended include (as you say) the Musee D'Orsay, but also the Parthenon in Athens (once used as an ammunition dump by the Turks), the Pantheon in Rome (once used as a church and now a national shrine), many 'warehouse' buildings in any major city, often reused as offices or apartments and even the Arlington National Cemetary which was once the family home of Robert E Lee (if memory serves me correctly).

Good luck with the essay and sorry for my rambling thoughts...

Mr Mephisto

Cynthetiq

the post office on 34th and 8th avenue will be converted from a post office to the new Penn Station...on the top of the building is scrawled..."Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor
hail, nor gloom of night will stay them from their swiftly appointed rounds."

Conversion info

CNN.com has an article on the current battle for the Ambassador Hotel where RFK was shot by Sirhan B. Sirhan and the LA Unified Schoold District.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/09/21/amb....ap/index.html

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jwoody

There was a TV program on in England recently called Restoration which looked at restoring old buildings (some were going to be converted). There might be some useful links for you from their website.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/programmes/restoration/

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Loup

The former Union Station (1912 - 1966) in Ottawa has been converted into a Government Conference Centre.

There were talks to have it converted again into a Sports Hall of Fame but the heritage board was all up in arms. So now they are in the talks for a proposal to turn it into a national history museum dedicated to Canadian Prime Ministers.

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Sledge

Beautiful, guys, thanks for the ideas and info! Mr. Mephisto, that's a good distinction to draw; you just kept me from being a pretentious asshole misusing English. Now I'll be a pretentious asshole with PROPER English.

I will now draft an experimental prose-poetry piece drawing parallels between converted buildings and the everyday changes people experience. It is 3:30 AM. Banzai.