Rethos thoughts on the Bloomberg CityLab article, "One Nation, Under Renovation"
Rethos loves to see it! Renovations in the US now account for over 50% of architectural billings for the first time in over 20 years. While these may not all be historic projects, it's important to note that building reuse is a crucial part of curating our built environment. As the article elaborates, renovations have been increasing over the past decade, and that, "there is almost a perfect correlation between what sectors are the strongest and where there was the most renovation activity." Also important to note is that for communities that have historically seen disinvestment, been defined by mid-century wrecking balls, and experienced racist redlining and lending practices, adaptive building reuse and renovation are tools for, "[anchoring] the memory of those neighborhoods." Certainly the examples outlined are great examples of preservation, and there are many more out there as this trend continues to take hold in cities throughout our country.