Adaptive Reuse Projects Transform Ceramic Factories into Cultural Spaces

An article by Camilla Ghisleni, translated by Diogo Simões and published on ArchDaily on April 29, 2026, explores four adaptive reuse projects that transform former ceramic factories. The piece highlights the ancestral gesture of shaping earth, noting that clay was molded and fired long before architecture became a discipline. Ceramic factories mark the shift from manual craft to serial production, but many have lost their original function due to technological advances or urban development. The reuse of these spaces activates layers of memory embedded in kilns, chimneys, soot-stained walls, and ceramic fragments. The article emphasizes that intervening in such places requires attentive listening and sensitive reading of existing marks and imperfections. The featured projects include the Doumu Dragon Kiln and ICH Lounge in Qianshan, Anhui, by Greyspace Architects, as photographed by Jianbo Ke. The article argues that reuse is more than preservation; it is about embracing history as part of the design.