The opportunity to convert the industrial heritage in the city into co-working spaces

Abstract

Traces of the communist industry bankruptcy are present in every city of Romania and many industrial towns. Plenty of old industrial buildings are forgotten in ruin for too long, continuing to fall apart and bring bad influences into the neighborhoods and many industrial towns shrunk because of the people migration after the industrial collapse.

Many examples are close to the cities borders, but also plenty in the urban area, a lot of old buildings with not real aesthetic or historical value being part of the urban landscape.

Converting an existing building structure, means to change its function and content, using the existing materials, the embodied energy, preserve the memory of the place, and reintegrate the building into economical, social and cultural circuit. Many think demolition is a better option, but it depends from case to case. We will start to make better decisions when we will try to see the industrial heritage not only as a problem but also as a resource.

Co-working is constantly growing around the world in the last 10 years and many projects were successfully applied in industrial heritage places. In Romania the heritage of industrial ‘decays’ is huge and in the last 3-5 years co-working is starting to emerge and bring more and more interest not only in the capital but also in the other big towns. Could this be small chance to regenerate our cities, to bring new energies, good vibes into this old structures with respect for their identity, memory, traditions and put inside the latest trend in working style?