Historic districts in older cities, with their exposed brick and ancient timber, make for enticing adaptive reuse projects, but how do we approach the more recently built urban areas around the country that don’t have those great bones? We’re talking about buildings and neighborhoods that are visibly outdated and no longer well positioned to compete for workplace, hospitality, and residential uses. While these places are too new to be replaced due to higher carbon footprints and renovation costs, they can be reimagined and reinvented using far fewer resources than ground-up development.

RIOS Studio Directors Sabina Cheng and Nate Cormier delve into dynamic case studies that demonstrate how the allied disciplines of architecture, landscape architecture, and experiential design can deliver “architectural editing” and creative insertions that bring new life to tired places.