#DemolitionMoratorium
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tedgrunewald.bsky.social
Separate and apart from the ignominy of its architect, the #HistoricPreservation & #AdaptiveReuse of this market hall is a win for this local community—civically and ecologically—as it halts the #RazeAndRebuild cycle & saves #EmbodiedCarbon.

#RetroFirst #reuse #sustainability #DemolitionMoratorium
c20society.bsky.social C20 Society @c20society.bsky.social · May 15
Good News Friday: Wakefield’s modern Market Hall has been spared demolition and relaunched as Wakefield Exchange (WX) - a new venue for live music, comedy, food, art and events.
Completed in 2008, the 4,000-square-metre market was the first public building designed by architect David Adjaye.
May 15, 2026 at 3:00 PM
tedgrunewald.bsky.social
I honestly don't know the best approach to "legacy suburban sprawl"—I think a case-by-case community-care approach is preferable to generalizations & grandiose 1960s-style urban renewal.

Nonetheless—I find myself increasingly sympathetic to Thomas de Monchaux's call for a #DemolitionMoratorium.
"Anyone interested in mediating the worst ongoing outcomes of the present climate catastrophe must also disconnect the idea of development from our notion that it proceeds only in cycles of demolition and new construction—a pattern that prevails because it is maximally legible to our existing structures of debt, financialization, and speculation. About 80 percent or more of a typical new house’s lifetime ecological and energetic impact comes through the operations of initial material extraction, manufacturing, transportation, and construction; and then of eventual demolition, further transportation, and decay. Sustainable buildings are therefore not new buildings—however fuel-efficient their machines and materials. Sustainable buildings are buildings that have been sustained. Merely by being seventy-five years old and in working order, Geller I was radically sustainable. For that matter, any dumb 1990s McMansion down the block is almost as ecologically precious as Geller I. That McMansion’s judicious conservation, too, is part of ecological stewardship." Thomas de Monchaux, "Against Demolition", N+1 Magazine, March 29, 2022 Source: https://archive.vn/3ulIX#selection-379.1-379.15
May 1, 2026 at 3:34 PM
tedgrunewald.bsky.social
Growth for growth's sake is an antiquated notion.
#RazeAndRebuild is so last century.

"The most sustainable building is the one you don’t build. The next most sustainable is the building you already have."
—Thomas de Monchaux

#DemolitionMoratorium #EmbodiedCarbon #RetroFirst #reuse #sustainability
"The conflation of demolition with progress is just one of the deeply ingrained anti-urban sentiments of contemporary American society. But when a building is demolished, it represents a systemic communal failure. It is a trashing of the hopes, dreams and capital that went into its initial creation and a repudiation of the efforts that went into its making and maintenance. Buildings aren’t eternal, but they certainly should have lifetimes that far exceed that of people. Centuries should be the minimum. Buildings can, and should be, extremely durable and capable of virtually endless modification and adaptation." —Edward Keegan (@edwardkeegan.bsky.social): From: "Our stewardship of historic buildings has been abysmal. Chicago must do better" Chicago Tribune, December 15, 2024 Source: https://www.chicagotribune.com/2024/12/15/column-chicago-historic-building-preservation-keegan/ Archived link: https://archive.ph/XKHXF
September 21, 2026 at 12:47 PM
tedgrunewald.bsky.social
This all sounds so familiar. (Especially the Boris Johnson part).

Raze. Rebuild. Repeat.

Architecture's #RazeAndRebuild model is *so* last century.
—Antiquated & irresponsible.

@edwardkeegan.bsky.social via Chicago Tribune

#DemolitionMoratorium #EmbodiedCarbon #RetroFirst #reuse #sustainability
Opposition to demolition The demolition of Earls Court was opposed by the 'Earl's Court Area Action Group', which began a 'Save Earl's Court' campaign.[36] The Group is composed of local residents and interested parties who would be affected by the exhibition centre's destruction and subsequent 20 years of proposed redevelopment. Darren Johnson, a Green Party member of the London Assembly, wrote to the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, and argued that "the Earl's Court demolition plans are a recipe for a disaster, with massive economic, social and environmental consequences. The winners will be the wealthy developers and overseas property speculators while the losers will be the community, local businesses and Londoners who will lose one of the capital's key exhibition centres."[37] The Guardian's London blogger Dave Hill cited concerns over the number and relative affordability of the housing units that will be constructed on the site after the proposed demolition of Earls Court, as well as concerns over the views of local residents.[38] Despite the opposition, Boris Johnson approved the redevelopment plans on 3 July 2013.[39] Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earls_Court_Exhibition_Centre#Opposition_to_demolition The conflation of demolition with progress is just one of the deeply ingrained anti-urban sentiments of contemporary American society. But when a building is demolished, it represents a systemic communal failure. It is a trashing of the hopes, dreams and capital that went into its initial creation and a repudiation of the efforts that went into its making and maintenance. Buildings aren’t eternal, but they certainly should have lifetimes that far exceed that of people. Centuries should be the minimum. Buildings can, and should be, extremely durable and capable of virtually endless modification and adaptation. Edward Keegan (@edwardkeegan.bsky.social): Our stewardship of historic buildings has been abysmal. Chicago must do better. Source: https://www.chicagotribune.com/2024/12/15/column-chicago-historic-building-preservation-keegan/
May 13, 2026 at 6:33 PM