ARS
POETICA
ARS
POETICA
Our mission is the adaptive reuse of obsolete and abandoned buildings and neighourhoods.
Our goal is to connect professionals interested and involved with urban regeneration by facilitation of research and dissemination of good practices and participating in projects.
URBAN UPCYCLING
ADAPTIVE REUSE OF
ABANDONED BUILDINGS AND
SPACES
RESEARCH
DEVELOPMENT
INNOVATION
The Urban Upcycling platform helps to find and to implement the highest and best use business cases for the adaptive reuse of abandoned urban spaces and to facilitate communication and cooperation among owners, developers, investors and other stakeholders in order to enable sustainable urban development and build local communities.
NETWORK
We provide a platform to connect properties, owners, developer, investors and future users.
URBAN PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
The first step of adaptive reuse of out-of-use properties is to understand functional demand within the catchment area and the structural conditions of the property. By allocating feasible functions (even multiple variations) allows to create creative combinations that turn the property into a viable investment opportunity by creating a mix of affordable housing, business accommodation, service and community hub. Scale and timing is part of the viability testing: by allowing for short-term pop-up uses the position of the location is redefined.
FEASIBILITY STUDIES
Designing the adaptive reuse of a site involves finding the best use-typologies that match the location potential of the place. By developing alternative use-case scenarios it is possible to select the highest and best use business cases that fit with a nubmer of typical locations. Our ambition is to find long-term solutions combining business and affordable housing, community and cultural and other revenue generation functions. Analysing current demand trends we apply hybrid and sharing economy models (work-live units, co-housing, coworking, event spaces, short-term rental accommodation, catering, glamping, etc.)
CATALOGUE
We develop a data-base of properties of various age, original function and size that await revitalisation and prepare adapive reuse strategies, technical plans and business models.
ABOUT
ABOUT
SZAKÁL ANDREA
- architect, set designer
Her interest has always focused on the potential of redefining neglected urban spaces. She graduated as an architect from the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, where her thesis was the reinterpretation of an industrial hall building. Later she turned to the world of theatre, especially location-specific theatre. The realization of such a play was also her Master’s thesis at the Prague University of Dramatic Arts. Her later site-specific works in several European cities and in Budapest synthesized her former areas of interest. One of these projects, implemented on an empty plot, has developed into Margitstreetnine community space, which was the first assignment of the newly formed Block Architects Ltd., where Andrea has been working with friends known from the university ever since. Their later joint works with the practice include condominiums (also on the site of the former community space) and a boathouse revitalization. She is currently studying at MOME’s Doctoral School – promoting affordable and sustainable housing by reinterpreting various properties.
SOÓKI-TÓTH
GÁBOR CSABA
- Architect, M.Sc in Real Estate, MRICS.
Architect, M.Sc in Real Estate, MRICS He completed his university studies at the Budapest University of Technology and Nottingham Trent University. During his nearly three-decade career, he worked for domestic and international consulting and property companies in the fields of urban development, asset management and real estate development. Currently, he is an assistant professor at Széchenyi István University of Győr and head of research at the Otthon Centrum.
Architect, M.Sc in Real Estate, MRICS He completed his university studies at the Budapest University of Technology and Nottingham Trent University. During his nearly three-decade career, he worked for domestic and international consulting and property companies in the fields of urban development, asset management and real estate development. Currently, he is an assistant professor at Széchenyi István University of Győr and head of research at the Otthon Centrum.
Probstner Petra
- Designer, architect, educator
Petra graduated with honors with a master’s degree in architecture from the University of West Hungary and a bachelor’s degree (BA Hons) in interior design from the Glasgow School of Art. Throughout her career, she has worked in Kecskemét, Glasgow, London, Buffalo, Boston, Toronto, and Chicago, focusing on experimental, human-centered, and sustainable design—both in completed projects and award-winning competitions, ranging from XL to XS in scale.
Petra worked as a freelance designer as well as an associate professor in Design at Columbia College Chicago before taking up an administrative position in the Hungarian government. She holds both an NCIDQ and LEED ID+C certification. Her current work involves human-centered narrative design, research, strategic consulting, and professional relationship building—with the goal of creating a more sustainable future. Petra is working on her doctorate at the Department of Urban Planning at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics.
In her spare time, she works as a permaculture designer and is creating a forest garden, incorporating a nature-oriented, regenerative approach into her family’s everyday life.
