CityLiv!

The past two days I took part in the Euregionale CityLiv, an event focused on the re-use of materials especially aimed at architects. The event took place in a short terrace of four 1950s houses that are about to be demolished to make way for a new tunnel approach underneath the Maastricht - Sittard railway line. The workshops on the first day dealt with the demolition of the houses and re-use of building materials separately. As an urbanist I feel that the focus shouldn't merely be on the re-use of materials, but also on the re-use of space, place and face (the facade of the building).

A cube of 8 metres squared is all that goes into a family house. One team in the Demolition experience piled all these materials in the front garden including the lamps. Another team tried to link the properties visually by making peep holes in the walls. A third team was truly inspired and aggregated the loose planks and other pieces of wood into a cocoon in the corner of an upstairs bedroom, the place where the materials of the present building would give birth to new constructions.

The second day was a symposium. The majority of the speakers was concerned with managing the process of re-use, certification, subsidies and grants needed, criteria for project tender, organising decision making and so-on. The only truly inspiring figure was a demolition expert that spoke of his experiences with demolition aimed at re-using as many of the materials as possible for use in new buildings, for use in construction or for use in preparing the site for new development. The day should have focused on why he can only get a foothold in small scale projects!