More sustainable than demolition

Public buildings from the 1960s and 70s are a common feature of many cityscapes around the world. Today, they no longer meet the 21st century’s technical, energy and aesthetic requirements, and are frequently demolished and replaced with new buildings. However, they have great potential for reducing emissions in the construction sector, thereby contributing to climate change mitigation. Thanks to their flexible floor plans, buildings from the 1960s and 70s – the modernist period – can be adapted to today’s requirements, often with additional benefits for cities and their inhabitants. It is high time we preserved these buildings, and used the grey energy embodied within their concrete and steel in a socially, economically and environmentally sustainable way.

This paradigm shift was the focus of the ‘2nd Hands on Public Buildings’ discussion event held on 24-27 September 2024, hosted by Connective Cities, in cooperation with the Berlin Senate Department. Around 30 municipal practitioners from Germany, Kenya, Montenegro, the Palestinian territories, Zambia and Ukraine, came together to discuss approaches to, and challenges inherent in, sustainably repurposing public buildings from the 1960s and 70s, and to develop some project ideas.