About
Architecture’s turn to conversion advocates for a radical shift from historical materialism to a plural culture of storytelling(s), where collective memories are diverse and inclusive.
Architecture in Conversion
and the Work of Carlo Scarpa
Conversion is a “practice aimed at re-contextualizing ideas, details or buildings along with their sites through adaptive change, creating de facto projects within (other) projects or stories within (other) stories,” Goffi writes. “It thus allows us to re(enter) a pre-existing reality anew, through radical re-interpretations that contribute to an inclusive sense of cultural orientation.”
The book, illustrated by Carlo Scarpa’s (1906-1978) drawings and new photography, provides insight into Scarpa’s approach to conversion in architecture: more than simply a change of use, but about a sense of place and the evolution of building, sites, and culture over time.
Goffi argues that approaching architecture through conversion offers a more inclusive practice that moves towards an understanding of sites through their accumulating histories in pluralistic societies, including their contradictions and difficult memories.
Federica Goffi
