The book Reuse in Construction – A Compendium of Circular Architecture sets out to achieve many things at once. First and foremost, it is an account of the construction of K118, a residential project in Winterthur, Switzerland. In this renovation and extension of railway sheds, the designers, baubüro in situ, focused intensively on reusing existing complete building components such as window frames, steel beams and façade panels. They sourced these from demolition sites. The ZHAW (Zurich University of Applied Sciences) monitored the project. This yielded a wealth of data on performance, construction costs and design issues. A large part of the book is a report on that research and project documentation.

However, the book also offers a historical analysis of why the reuse of building components, whilst falling out of favour in the twentieth century, never completely disappeared from view. In a fascinating essay, Eva Stricker explains, for example, how reuse runs through the history of modernism as a counter-movement. She illustrates this using works by major figures such as Jean Prouvé, Peter & Alison Smithson, Carlo Molino, Herman Czech and Alexander Brodsky.

In addition, the book delves deeply into the necessity of reuse for both ecological and social reasons through various essays and statements. It is no coincidence that the name Rotor, alongside that of other pioneers such as Superuse in Rotterdam, is frequently mentioned in this context. After all, their groundbreaking study *Déconstruction et réemploi / Comment faire circuler les éléments de construction* was published by a Swiss publisher and remains a key reference in this field. Logistically, Rotor is also further ahead than the emerging networks for the recovery, storage and distribution of building components in Switzerland. In that sense, this book does not offer much that is new. However, anyone wishing to gain an insight into both the finer practical details and the ideological background of circular architecture will find this book a substantial read.

Reuse in Construction – A compendium of Circular Architecture, edited by IKE Institut Konstruktives Entwerfen, ZHAW Department of Architecture, Eva Stricker, Guido Brandi, Andreas Sonderegger, Baubüro in Situ AG, Zirkular GmbH, Marc Angst, Barbara Buser, Michel Massmünster, Park Books, Zurich 2022. 344 pp. ISBN 978-3-03860-295-8. RRP approx. €65.

Reuse in construction – a compendium of circular architecture, Rotor, La Fondation des Presses polytechniques et universitaires romandes (PPUR), Lausanne. ISBN 978-2-88915-239-1