Remaking Cities Institute director Ray Gastil will speak on "Downtowns: Adaptive Reuse Project of the 2020s" on Friday 05 March at 12:00pm EST. The event is part of the series "COVID-19: One Year Later" organized by the Portland Society for Architecture. The series is intended to both speak to larger issues for Portland, Maine, and downtowns like it, and to inform a future charrette to address the specific challenges for One Monument Square, the quintessential 1980s office tower, and its adjacent plazas and open space.
Gastil's talk will focus on how downtowns are an adaptive reuse challenge that goes beyond individual buildings to the plazas, parks, and public spaces, indoors and out, and the use and form of the buildings they connect to as we, and goods, move between them all. Unlike many aspects of 20th-century urban renewal, 21st-century adaptive reuse of downtowns will be developed with the people who live, work, and visit today, and adapt existing places and buildings before turning to new construction. Innovative technology, from remote working to changing requirements for parking, new vehicle and micro-mobility, will contribute to places that reflect a robust and adaptive approach to building – and keeping – a sustainable downtown.