Preview
Source Collection
Alan Karchmer collection, Special Collections Department, University of Memphis Libraries
Identifier
30_22.B4
Description
41-43 Union Avenue, Memphis, Tennessee. Photographer: Alan Karchmer. © Alan Karchmer.
Today architects and their clients are exploring the concept of adaptive use. Many of our older buildings contain valuable craftsmanship and materials that are no longer available. These structures radiate a character they have developed over the years. Buildings once considered unsightly can be transformed into rich, attractive and active places. There are still places which have, in some ways, resisted late 20th Century suburbanization. These areas can be given new and continuing life. Adaptive use is a part of this. It is by foolish habit that we demolish usable, irreplaceable structures that have many years of good service to give. By working within the existing framework, we can continue actively in establishing areas without disrupting or even destroying human life patterns. Adaptation of existing buildings is an invitation for people to remain and return, to continue functioning in a genuine urban area. This is what makes a city a cordial, inviting place. Memphis still has charms which have been all but forgotten, and once this inventory of our architectural heritage has been lost, it is lost forever. Constructive recycling of existing areas is a rational alternative to our urban ills, and adaptive use is part of the cure.
Date Created
2021
Date
undated
Recommended Citation
"41-43 Union Avenue, Memphis" (2021). Images. 82.
https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/speccoll-mss-karchmera2/82
Keywords
Architecture--Tennessee--Memphis.
