Dissecting rurality: radical preservation of abandoned buildings in Denmark

The transformation practice aims at engaging the local communities as part of a radical preservation strategy. In other words, the transformation constitutes a catalyst of an exchange of the narratives of the building and the place, thus substantiating the building preservation immaterially as a strengthened collective memory. Therefore, interaction with the local people is considered of utmost importance and comprises a vital impact indicator and supplement to the physical transformations.

Some of the prototyped transformations include an integrated ruination process and age-long timespan, whereas others are event-based and terminate with demolition. They constitute an attempt to establish a counter-practice of radical preservation of condemned cultural heritage of the near past in cooperation with rural municipalities and residents, as an alternative to strategic demolition.