Instead of tearing down undesirable buildings to construct new ones, a breed of architects are reinventing defunct structures. The recycling of urban landscape, such as factories, office buildings, bridges and parking lots reduces demolition, use of new materials, and construction time (which also means it reduces cost). The Bay Line proposal from San Francisco architects, Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello, transforms the unusable Bay Bridge connecting San Francisco to Oakland into private residences and a recreation area. While the Bay Bridge is being replaced by a massive concrete structure (btw, concrete production is one of the biggest industrial CO2 emitters) Bay Line remains a viable solution, costing an estimated $350 million.
