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The purpose of this paper is to study the sustainable impact of adaptive reuse of shopping malls built during communism in Kosovo.

The present study uses qualitative research using semi-structured interviews with architects, civil engineers, real estate developers and facility managers.

The study found that it is the predominant opinion of respondents that the economic impact of adaptive reuse of old shopping malls in Kosovo is reflected through extension of useful life of the malls, lower cost of reuse vs demolition, economic and tourism development of the neighborhood, job creation and increase of property prices in the surrounding area. In addition, the study found that it is the predominant opinion of respondents that by adaptive reuse of old shopping malls, the revitalization and social dynamism of the surrounding area will be improved and collective memory and identity of these shopping malls will be extended, including the increased traffic, space utilization and security. The study concludes that operational CO₂ emission of the old shopping malls will be reduced after their sustainable adaptation and also the embodied energy of the building materials will be reused.

The study has several implications. For real estate developers, it shows that is less costly to adapt and refurbish rather than redevelop. For authorities, it shows that by adapting old communist shopping malls, they would extend the collective memory of those locations, improve the social life and utilization of public spaces in the surrounding areas. The final implication is for municipal authorities and environmentalists that but allowing adaptation rather than demolition and redevelopment the embodied CO₂ emission will be significantly reduced.

The study is the first qualitative study about the impact of adaptive reuse of old communist style commercial centers in Kosovo.

The purpose of this paper is to quantify the carbon emissions emitted by two different typical apartment units representative of two different construction periods in Kosovo due to main construction materials as a consequence of embodied energy.

The present study uses a three-step (bottom-up) process-based life cycle analysis of the construction material set for two different apartment units. The current study uses material analysis. Embodied CO₂ is estimated by multiplying material masses with the corresponding ECO₂ coefficients (kg CO₂/kg). Due to the lack of a comprehensive Kosovo database, data from an international database are utilized. The results provide practical baseline indicators for the contribution of each material in terms of mass and embodied CO₂.

Results of quantitative research find that apartment unit representative of the old communist-era construction produces 50 percent more embodied CO₂ emissions than an apartment unit that is representative of modern construction in Kosovo. The study finds that this difference comes mainly because of the utilization of larger quantities of steel, concrete, and precast fabricated concrete in the apartment unit that is representative of the old communist era.

The calculation of embodied CO₂ emissions for major construction materials in typical apartments in Kosovo can help in the development of national databases in the future. The availability of such databases could help the construction industry in Kosovo to open up to new sustainable design approaches since such databases and evaluations performed in the national context in Kosovo could help the builders in selecting, assessing and using environmentally friendly materials during the design or refurbishment stage of a building.

This paper is the first investigation of the embodied carbon emission in two different typical apartment building structures in Kosovo.

New Towns were exemplars of Utopian social and economic visions allied to Modernist ideas of design and architecture. Initially hailed as the answer to the ailments of the historic European city and the urgent need for housing after the War, they came under considerable scrutiny when the ideas of New Urbanism on design, density and community became one of the most vocal critics on Modernist town planning.

The UK Arts and Humanities Research Council recently funded a New Town Heritage Research Network Project. Drawing on case studies from the network, this chapter will refer to the original questions posed by the above-mentioned network project: How are the Utopian social and economic visions which accompanied the New Town Movement embodied in the masterplanning, urban design and architecture of the New Towns? How can the New Town architectural and urban design heritage be evaluated? How can future planning for these towns accommodate and build on this heritage in a meaningful way, and be integrated into regeneration and growth? How can key stakeholders in New Towns create an identity and pride for their town as well as a sense of belonging, by building cultural capital through their heritage, including architecture, public art and cultural activities?

This chapter will analyse how New Towns and their associated Modernist Heritage have been perceived by different audiences and are positioned in the overall heritage discourse including the question of a shared European Heritage.

This chapter investigates Yiddish-language heavy metal music as a manifestation of postvernacularity. Yiddish, the traditional language of Ashkenazic Jews, is now endangered with a geographically dispersed speaker base and a low rate of transmission to younger generations outside of strictly Orthodox communities. However, as the heritage language of most Ashkenazic Jews, Yiddish continues to play an important symbolic role in contemporary Jewish life even among those who do not speak or understand it. This phenomenon has been termed ‘postvernacularity’ (Shandler, 2006).

Yiddish is associated with a rich tradition of folk songs, popular songs, and ballads. Recent decades have seen a growing interest among younger generations in Yiddish language and culture, including its musical tradition. In addition to musicians specialising in traditional Yiddish song, there are also currently two bands worldwide who have produced a metal album in Yiddish: Gevolt (Israel) and Dibbukim (Sweden). The repertoire of both bands is comprised largely of classic Yiddish songs interpreted in a metal style but retaining the traditional lyrics and melodies.

The fact that these metal bands often choose to reinterpret traditional staples rather than composing original Yiddish songs can be seen as a reflection of the predominantly postvernacular status of Yiddish. The language plays an iconic role for band members and audiences. Concurrently, the fusion of familiar Yiddish songs with metal style makes a language often associated with traditional Ashkenazic society relevant to the twenty-first century.

Discusses the importance of recording surviving library buildings as a contribution to architectural and library history research, illustrated by a selection of photographs of historic library buildings in Yorkshire. Concludes that the photographs provide much to be learned from.

Examines the challenges of conserving modern buildings: size, diversity, forms of ownership, new and cheap materials, changing technology, and rapidly dating fashions. Discusses need to ensure modern building conservation while allowing continued development and use, proposing the conservation management agreement as a way of protecting potentially important buildings. Summarizes that current procedures offer inadequate protection for modern buildings, and that changes must be recognized in order to save post‐war buildings.