ReuseArch: Second Lives
Architecture historian Marina Yushkevich collects stories of old buildings getting a second life: adaptive reuse, redevelopment and careful restoration around the world.
What it is
ReuseArch is a Telegram channel about adaptive reuse architecture: reconstruction, redevelopment and old buildings reworked for new purposes. It's run by Marina Yushkevich, whom the channel bio describes as an architecture historian, journalist and lecturer at the British Higher School of Art and Design in Moscow.
The core format is "before and after" — it even has its own hashtag, #былостало ("was / became"). She takes a specific building, shows what it used to be, what was done to it and why the decision is interesting. Posts are in Russian.
Why we picked it
The subject is rare and very concrete. Most architecture channels show new buildings; this one looks at how not to demolish old ones. And it does so without preaching: she's honest when a result disappoints her. Of a film-set house turned into a fishing pier she writes that it's "a bit sad, because the house was good".
Recent examples show the range. Herzog & de Meuron reused the frame of the two lower floors of a 1960s brutalist science building at Amherst College in Massachusetts, and she explains why the old block had been getting in the way of the campus. In Kuldīga, Latvia, a local family worked with Field Studio to turn a 200-year-old house into a boutique hotel. In Moscow, the Writers' Bookshop on Kuznetsky Most reopened after restoration, and the channel posted a four-minute timelapse of the works.
Some posts sit between architecture and film: one on Nathan Crowley, an architect by training and Christopher Nolan's production designer, and one on the 20th anniversary of The Lake House. When news broke that Moscow's Shukhov radio tower would be fully dismantled for reconstruction, she posted "five facts" and explained what worries heritage specialists.
She admits she has so many Russian stories that international ones sometimes get lost — and promptly balances it with a post about a furniture collection abroad. The mix feels alive.
Where to start
- Search the #былостало hashtag; that's the heart of the channel, before-and-after pairs with explanations.
- Read the Herzog & de Meuron Amherst post — a clear example of reusing a structure.
- Watch the timelapse of the Writers' Bookshop reconstruction.
- Open the Kuldīga hotel story if you're heading to Latvia.
- Read the Shukhov tower post; it shows the difference between reconstruction and restoration.
Who it's for
Architects and developers working with existing buildings. Heritage campaigners and anyone who hates seeing old buildings torn down. Architecture students looking for good and debatable examples. And anyone who simply enjoys watching an abandoned factory turn into a library. You'll need Russian or a translator, but the photos do a lot of the talking.
Quick answers
Who runs it? Marina Yushkevich — an architecture historian, journalist and lecturer at the British Higher School of Art and Design, according to the channel bio.
What's it about? Reconstruction, redevelopment and saving buildings, in Russia and abroad.
What does #былостало mean? It roughly means "was / became" and marks before-and-after posts.
