Adaptive Reuse and Counterpreservation; A Study of Haus Schwarzenberg

Abstract

Sustainable development has throughout the years become an important topic in multiple fields. Despite this, it is rarely approached from a sociologically spatial intersection. This is the perspective from which we tackle sustainable development in this article, where we question the sustainability aspects of two different approaches in the field of building renovation. Our attention is drawn to the unique image of Haus Schwarzenberg, which with its antique appearance, strongly stands out from the rest of the Mitte neighborhood. We first approach the problem of sustainability from the perspective that Sanders calls counterpreservation, as well as from the slightly more familiar approach of adaptive re-use. We are interested in what these approaches to preserving historical authenticity bring to their immediate environment and what their impact is on society as such is. Even more than their impact here and now, we also analyze its prospects for the future and what potential counterpreservation and adaptive re-use carry with them.