Transform: Promising Places, Second Chances, and the Architecture of Change For Sale

Discover the transformative power of adaptive reuse with TenBerke’s acclaimed publication, *Transform: Promising Places, Second Chances, and the Architecture of Transformational Change*, published in collaboration with Monacelli. This beautifully presented volume is accompanied by abundant photographs and detailed plan diagrams, offering an insightful exploration of Berke’s modernist inclinations, her minimalist style, and her firm’s expert handling of spaces and materials. Architectural students and practitioners alike will find much to appreciate in its thoughtful analysis and inspiring case studies.

*Transform* advocates for the regenerative reuse of old buildings, emphasizing how architecture can help us adapt to a changing world. It highlights the practice of adaptive reuse as a means of combining the best of old and new through renovation, restoration, regeneration, reimagination, and repair. This approach is portrayed as a form of sensitive stewardship and creative conservation, turning the obsolete into the relevant and meaningful. The studio demonstrates that creatively and visibly repurposed places are where people feel empowered to make new beginnings in their own lives.

The book illustrates how TenBerke’s designs reveal the signs and signatures of adaptation, creating a continuity where the after does not erase the before. It explores how these spaces are always being remade by their users, emphasizing that adaptive reuse extends beyond simple renovation to encompass the long, lively life of buildings. The narrative underscores that these places are constantly evolving through the interactions of the people who inhabit them.

*Transform* features a diverse collection of essays and reports, including *Against Historic Preservation*, an argument for the creative reuse of old buildings by Deborah Berke, founder of TenBerke and dean of the Yale School of Architecture. It also includes *Promise*, a critical narrative essay by award-winning design writer Thomas de Monchaux, and *The Environmental Case for Adapting Buildings at Scale*, a report by urban scientist Karen C. Seto that advocates building reuse as a strategy to manage the rapid urbanization impacting natural environments. Additionally, the book presents a compelling conversation titled “Time Is That Collaborator...” between artist Titus Kaphar and Berke, inspired by TenBerke’s design for NXTHVN, a community arts center in New Haven, Connecticut, which revitalizes former industrial buildings for new cultural purposes.

Under the editorial and creative direction of TenBerke Senior Principal Arthi Krishnamoorthy, *Transform* offers accessible and actionable case studies of adaptive reuse projects. These include NXTHVN, where disused factories became an arts incubator and community hub; the Yale School of Art, where an old swimming pool was transformed into a gallery and classroom; the 122 Community Arts Center in downtown Manhattan, a former public school turned performance space and civic crossroads; and the 21c Hotel in Oklahoma City, a repurposed Ford Motor Company assembly plant that now serves as a hotel and event space, catalyzing neighborhood revitalization.

Throughout *Transform*, it becomes clear that the architecture of adaptation presents a new approach to old places—one that is both sensitive and bold. It respects histories and legacies while remaining optimistic about future possibilities. This is architecture of second chances, promising places, and transformational change—an inspiring testament to the enduring relevance and potential of adaptive reuse in shaping vibrant, resilient The Monacelli Press