BIG BOX REUSE

Interdisciplinary long-term proje
Big Box Reuse (2003-2010) is an interdisciplinary research project about the reuse of abandoned “big box” buildings in the United States. When Christensen witnessed the abandoned Walmart store in her Kentucky hometown evolve into the county’s courthouse, she became interested in how other communities were dealing with abandoned big box stores. She spent years conducting a series of road trips that led her to visit dozens of reused Walmart and Kmart sites, documenting the community reuse of these structures across the United States. Eventually the project led her to produce photographs, interdisciplinary installations, illustrated lectures at venues across the country, various websites, numerous articles. The project manifested in Christensen’s first book, Big Box Reuse, published by MIT Press in 2008.