Project R-14683

The ethical nature of architectural interventions in built heritage (Research)

The renovation and reuse of built heritage often faces moral criticism. While the repurposing of heritage represents a relatively new but swiftly developing area of academic research, a thorough analysis of the ethical nature of architectural interventions remains largely absent. This is surprising since there appears to be consensus that repurposing built heritage is as an act of (re)interpreting, translating and transforming meanings and values. This research clarifies the ethical nature of this conception and the architectural interventions involved and offers a conceptual-ethical framework to facilitate and enrich the public debate and institutional discussions and decision-making processes concerning built heritage. The project also aims to make ethical criteria an explicit part of architectural competitions and awards, not only in relation to heritage but to architecture in general. For these objectives, the project relies on an analytical-phenomenological method and case studies that will also lead to a handbook on architectural ethics in architectural heritage. In general, this research contributes to the understanding of difficult or contested architectural heritage and provides the expertise to analyse international cases, make general claims about ethics in adaptive reuse of built heritage and argue for the inherently ethical nature of architecture in general.

01 January 2024 - 31 December 2027