Unlocking Public Engagement in Reused Industrial Heritage: Weighting Point Evaluation Method for Cultural Expression

Abstract

Industrial heritage has attracted much attention because of its significant historical and cultural values. Nowadays, the functional transformation of industrial heritage buildings, such as museums, parks, and so on, into public-space-oriented buildings has been taking place all over the world. The public users of these public realms become the main audiences of industrial culture. Architects transmit the industrial culture therein to public users by using the design language. However, differences in the public’s understanding of design from different backgrounds may affect the attractiveness of the project. The tension between industrial culture and public acceptance becomes a key issue in industrial heritage renovation. The proposal of the “weighting point evaluation method” is the aim of this study, which demonstrates the usability of this mathematical and statistical method for the assessment of the cultural expression aspect in the renovation of industrial heritage. Such a quantitative assessment method is used to find the strengths and weaknesses that exist in the project, thus providing a reference point for optimizing future development. The methodology was applied at the Dalian Industrial Culture Exhibition Hall to demonstrate its validity. The results of the methodology in practice identified four aspects of the experience of public users concerned with the case and, at the same time, identified the strengths and weaknesses of the project in terms of cultural expression, providing an important reference point for further optimization in the future. Moreover, it also demonstrates flexibility and generalizability in responding to different expressions in different projects due to the variability of the weighting judgements of the methodology.