Two university renovations are visual metaphors using craftsmanship and other arts to suggest larger contexts. (Author/MLF)

The Samuel F. B. Morse School, built in 1874 and closed in 1980, is a historic landmark in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Now the building serves as low-income housing for 70 elderly tenants and is praised as being an imaginative and creative use of an old school structure. (MLF)

High ceilings and the graceful columns supporting them are highlighted in the conversion of a hat factory into the Office of Financial Aid for New York University. Lighting and color coding of departments produce a pleasant atmosphere. (Author/MLF)

For over a quarter of a century architect Giancarlo de Carlo has been designing and carrying out a master plan to revitalize the historic city of Urbino (Italy) and the University of Urbino. A convent built in the 16th century was converted to a new law school. (MLF)

DePaul University's downtown Chicago campus is geared toward professional students. A search for space led to the acquisition of a city-owned landmark 1912 department store. By purchasing from the city, DePaul gained financial advantages. The city benefitted since it was able to make money from a building it was about to demolish. An essentially…

The Surplus Schools Project was designed to stimulate and encourage the adaptive use and preservation of vacant school buildings in New York State. Through a statewide competition, the Preservation League selected four surplus schools that were located in four distinctly different communities and presented a broad range of problems and…

Two dozen schools in Cincinnati, Ohio, were closed over a period of 3 years. Property sales yielded over $1 million; one property, considered an architectural gem, is now a health facility with office spaces and four others are leased. The leases can be cancelled if the district needs school space. (MLF)

Extra space was found in existing structures and remodeled for use as a student center in New York, an art academy in Pennsylvania, and history department office space at Stanford University (California). (MLF)

Renovation and conversion of many old buildings at Davidson (North Carolina) College over the past fifteen years have saved millions of dollars and preserved the neoclassical architecture of the campus. The Davidson shop crews' repair and remodeling projects are described and illustrated by several photographs. (MF)

School of education facilities at the University of Urbino (Italy), originally an 18th-century convent and chapel, are organized around an open courtyard and a semicircular lecture-theatre hall. Open to the community are the theater, a cinema, and a cafe. (MLF)

A Michigan law allows school districts to make energy conservation improvements and pay for them with savings generated by lowered energy consumption. A 71-year-old school, now the Community Education Center of Kalamazoo, Michigan, also serves as the base for a centralized energy management system for the school district. (MLF)

Describes how a historic church building in New Woodstock, New York was converted into a full-service modern library. Discusses community support and patron involvement in the project, the design plan which retained the historical integrity and satisfied modern requirements, funding from local contributions, spatial arrangements, and provisions…