ABSTRACT
Postindustrial transformation poses one of the biggest challenges of urban planning since the late 20th century, and a major task for the physical design disciplines. Design answers most often aim at radical turn-over or radical museumification of derelict industrial land, without much interest for the qualities of the specific sites. Behind these dualistic approaches lies a shadow zone of alternative, more site-responsive answers, observed in contemporary transformation projects. They cater for the idea of sites as resources whose specificities can be valued in new ways to support sustainable transformation processes. To update ideas of site-specific design, intuitively associated with recognizing static site qualities, radicant design is introduced as a concept that brings transient aspects of site back to mind, such as human uses and processes of nature, so far often overlooked. The act of design, rather than formalization of static site components, becomes then an act of continuous translation. Such reconceptualization of design builds on the exploration of design practice and promotes design research as a transdisciplinary endeavor in a historic moment in which no one discipline can claim to solve globally entangled problems alone.
