Functional and aesthetic transformation of industrial into housing spaces

Abstract

Buildings preservation by the conversion of their function has become a domain of interest in the field of industrial heritage. Due to the need to expand existing housing capacities in urban areas, a large number of industrial buildings are nowadays converted into multi-family and single-family housing. The paper deals with the analysis of the functional and aesthetic internal transformation of industrial into housing spaces. The research goal is to determine the principles of conceptualization of housing functional plan within the framework of the original physical structure of the industrial building, at the architectonic composition level and housing unit (dwelling) level. Besides, the paper aims to check the existence of common patterns of the aesthetic transformation of converted spaces, examined through three epochs of the development of industrial architecture: the second half of the XIX century, the first half of the XX century and the post-WWII period.