Abstract
To analyze the life and transformation of modern housing is a key subject for architectural knowledge. There are very positive cases of evolution, such as Casa Bloc in Barcelona, Spain, by GATCPAC architects, which still functions as living patrimony after two architectural rehabilitations; and disastrous, such as Robin Hood Gardens in London by Alison and Peter Smithson. The article explains why some cases are very alive while others have suffered progressive degradation and will be demolished. A key and decisive element is the design of the corridors, which due to their forms and sizes might be positive. And one of the reasons why these complexes have become obsolete has been the excessive architectural definition of both the exterior and the interior. Also the heritage of the Villes Nouvelles in France has been disastrous and, in response to the policy of demolition, architects such as Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal, Roland Castro and Sophie Denissof, or Paul Chemetov, have defended the logic of redoing, remodeling and metamorphosing. The challenge is to project and to build collective housing capable of absorbing transformations.

Keywords
Modern Movement, Modern architecture, Living heritage, Modern housing, Housing preservation, Modern housing transformation, European modern architecture, Casa Bloc, Robin Hood Gardens, Ville Nouvelles.

Issue 51
Year 2014
Pages 12-15
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.52200/51.A.OL9JFVSL

Abstract
One of the main subjects in contemporary architecture is how to deal with the physical and intellectual requirements of transforming modern housing. Joan Busquets points out in his contribution to this issue, that the special effort made by modern architects and progressive housing politics during the 20th century must be reinterpreted and followed today. Intentionally, this issue brings a special focus on the Iberoamerican world, specifically Spain, Portugal and Latin America, with the aim of relocating it in a cultural world of predominantly Anglo-American historiography. In any case, it presents a very wide spectrum, including North America, Switzerland and Great Britain. For this reason the projects are presented as case studies, both housing politics in different countries, and paradigmatic architectural examples, either positive or negative.

Keywords
Modern Movement, Modern architecture, Living heritage, Modern housing, Housing preservation.

Issue 51
Year 2014
Pages 10-11
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.52200/51.A.M3WS825N

Abstract
The Kagawa Prefectural Government Office East Building, designed by Kenzo Tange, was completed in 1958, and in addition to acting as an important disaster prevention base facility, it possesses a cultural value through its many spaces open to the public and its expression of traditional Japanese architectural ideas in concrete. It is part of the current government offices, and while the concrete itself is expected to be viable for over 50 years, it will require substantial improvements in order to meet the most recent earthquake resistance standards. As such, Kagawa Prefecture, through advice from specialists and discussion in the Prefectural Assembly, has considered the possible earthquake resistance improvements that could be made, including reconstruction, seismic isolation retrofitting, and seismic strengthening. It was concluded that in consideration of earthquake resistance, its office functions, costs involved, and the cultural value of the building, it would be appropriate to preserve the building and improve its earthquake resistance through base isolation construction methods, and efforts are being made to gain the support and understanding of the people of the prefecture and pursue this policy going forward.

Keywords
Modern Movement, Modern architecture, Reuse, Renovation, Restoration, Kagawa Prefectural Government Office East, Kenzo Tange, Traditional Japanese architecture, Japanese modern architecture, Seismic retrofit.

Issue 52
Year 2015
Pages 72-79
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.52200/52.A.BDI24625

Abstract
Recent interventions in modern oeuvres of high cultural significance have set new challenges, opening discussion on the various positions associated with their preservation and sustainability. In particular, the relationship between newly conceived architecture and modern heritage, for which the analysis of the design in the original building, the ideas promoted in terms of its significance and the results obtained in material terms, become the key features in each case. The experience of the United Nations ECLAC (Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean) building in Santiago, Chile, may, in this sense, be of special interest in order to verify possibilities of sustainability that assume both the contingencies among which the rehabilitation process takes place and the values recognized in the building as monument.

Keywords
Modern Movement, Modern architecture, Reuse, Renovation, Restoration, UN-CEPAL-ECLAC, Emilio Duhart, Chilean modern architecture.

Issue 52
Year 2015
Pages 60-71
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.52200/52.A.B7UFNCU4

Abstract
The International House of Japan (I-House) in Tokyo is a non-governmental organization that has promoted rich international intellectual exchanges. Designed by three young, up-and-coming architects Kunio Maekawa, Junzo Sakakura, and Junzo Yoshimura, the building of I-House in an exquisite modern Japanese style was built in 1955, but due to financial difficulties, the building was threatened with demolition. The Architectural Institute of Japan scrambled to assemble a special panel to present a conservation plan in 2004. Ultimately, the Board of Trustees decided to follow the panel’s proposal. This paper introduces the process of the restoration activities, discusses what were the driving forces of the preservation and restoration actions, and gives some lessons from the project.

Keywords
Modern Movement, Modern architecture, Reuse, Renovation, Restoration, International House of Japan, Tokyo modern architecture, Kunio Maekawa, Junzo Sakakura, Junzo Yoshimura.

Issue 52
Year 2015
Pages 54-59
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.52200/52.A.ZU9D4VEZ