Dirty Laundry / An adaptive reuse of a Textile Mill
Keywords: Industrial heritage, urban fabric, cultural space, landmark, canvas, textile mills, Bombay, revitalization, paradigm shift, adaptable design, preservation, brownfield redevelopment.
Abstract: The abandoned textile mills of Bombay, sitting vacant across the heart of the city occupying valuable real estate, are often contaminated with chemicals that leach into water tables. In addition to this, they create voids in the urban fabric that impede development and regeneration around them. These industrial buildings serve an important role in urban life as the former engines of production and economic centers of communities, but when their doors are shut, they are left to decay. They are not preserved because they lack the architectural, historical and symbolic significance that society requires to retain them. Reused instead can provides value to the urban fabric and communities around them. The opportunity to reuse obsolete facilities in the urban core supports sustainability and smart growth initiatives designed to focus redevelopment in inner cities in an effort to decrease urban sprawl. As an alternative to our ever-increasing “throw-away society”, adaptive reuse offers an approach for a sustainable building site. Every aspect of this research project aims to raise awareness and actively portray the potential of sustainable practice in adaptive reuse as a viable and socially responsible alternative to demolition and replacement.
Case Studies:
- Andel’s Hotel Lódz, Poland
- Küppersmühle museum of modern art, Germany
- Rotterman carpenter’s workshop, Estonia
- Rock Hill’s textile mill, Massachusetts, USA
- Pheonix Mills, Mumbai, India
- Love Grove arts and crafts centre, Mumbai, India
by Laasyapriya Malladi
Principle of Adaptive Reuse 