Preserving with Purpose

While prominent buildings like Notre Dame in Paris rise from the ashes, historic buildings in disinvested communities are lost at an alarming rate. The resulting holes in the fabric of the community are not only a loss of structures, but of the stories and the embedded possibilities that the buildings represent. In Preserving with Purpose: Reimagining Buildings for Community Benefit, architect Amy Hetletvedt unfolds a revolutionary-but-simple vision for re-thinking building conservation in vulnerable communities. Profiles and case studies are featured from around the world including Project Row Houses in Houston, Texas and Stony Island Arts Bank in Chicago, Illinois. Fifteen case studies cover a broader geographic range and are organized into three purposeful interventions: priority, practical and poetic. Preserving with Purpose is a compelling invitation into the beautiful and fruitful middle-ground between ruin and restoration.