4 – 2021

Conversion Creates A Public Realm

Conversion is the task of our time. While architecture criticism tends to focus on the new, in terms of the knowledge and skills required cultural, organisational, and energy-related upgrading is no less demanding than a new building — on the contrary, in fact. Conversion work reveals the sensitivity, spontaneity, and adaptability of those who makearchitecture. And if conversions lead to a greater public realm, then they become important places for the urban and social fabric, as is illustrated by several examples from Basel, Baden, and Davos.