What are the Limits? The Role of Designers on Preserving the Identity in Adaptive Reuse of Urban Industrial Areas

Abstract

Cities are organisms that expand and transform. This expansion can include industrial sites into the city's organism and create abandoned areas. Adaptive reusing them plays a significant role in the sustainable urbanization goal. However, the interventions in the processes may cause the loss of the regional identity. This study aims to determine the designer's interference limit through a comprehensive literature review and examination of a case study, Lx Factory in Lisbon, Portugal. The results of the research indicate that designers should adopt a participatory design process and an inclusive approach to maintaining the regional identity in the adaptive reuse projects.