Greece | A Third World Country?

Today, I ran into an interesting article on the economy of Greece and that it is slipping into becoming a third world country. This was a strong statement as it links in nicely with the research I have been finding on third world countries and how they deal with garbage.

Could this further my narrative as most existing garbage cities are in third world economies. Just want to make it clear that this is much more beautiful than a city of garbage, its more ephemeral than that. 

The article can be read here: "We Are Moving from Being a Western Country to a Third World Country"

E-Waste City - Guiyu, China

While doing research this week I ran into an interesting article about an E-Waste City in China. I knew already that many third world countries were the source of our large-scale rubbish collection, but I did not know that cities like this existed. The entire city is similar to that of Cairo, Egypt with skilled laborers taking apart computers by the handful and recycling every bit that they can. See article below for more info:

http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1870162,00.html

Upcycling | The Life Cycle of Materials

It was also this week that a new idea came into my mind: the notion of upcycling. Rather than simply creating a recycling city, could I create one that is so careful about what it throws out and keeps that it can actually create an economy around the recycling culture. The idea is that workshops will exist in which recycled products are re-used and made into art, homes, furniture, and other objects that can then be sold off within Athens.

Along with the notion of upcycling, I created a short book similar to that of the rooftop culture from earlier in the year. The booklet shows examples of how different materials have been used in art upcycling.

The question now is to consider how can this be more than just an art form? Could I redefine the meaning of upcycling for architecture?

Waste Catalogue

Having taken a step back from the design process, I spent this week delving back in. I wanted to start to think about the zoning of garbage and decided to create a catalogue of waste types. Research was focused on the European Union garbage "categories" as well as those that I felt would be necessary. Along with each category, I decided in the section of the city where each would be collected, processed, and recycled.  (Garbage Catalogue to be attached soon..) 

Garbage Movies | A Context for Gerani Recycling City?

Taking the movies I had seen amongst the last two weeks, and extensive articles I had found on e-waste and garbage cities worldwide, I decided to compile a short video as an introduction to my project. The movie would introduce the narrative of my project and place it in context on the larger scheme. The clip can be seen below: 

Movies referenced include:

1. Garbage Dreams by Mai Iskander, 2009

2. Garbage Warrior by Mike Reynolds, 2007

3. Waste Land by Lucy Walker and Vik Muniz, 2010

4. Garbage Island by Meredith Danluck, 2008

The Road Ahead

With a concrete narrative in place, and generally positive reviews, I felt rejuvenated and ready to dive full into my project. I began by looking back at the rooftop culture book I had made, and deciding what I really needed to grasp the scope of my project was to do some extensive research on garbage. What are the types of garbage? How is it collected, categorized, recycled? What exemplary cities exist in the world that either struggle or deal with garbage? What films tell the story of garbage?

Alongside my research, I continued my design proposal by working in Rhino and trying to render views of what the garbage city may look like formally.  

Detailing the Scheme | Moving Towards a Section

Finally clear on my ideas, I jumped in scale to try to tackle the garbage city in detail. I worked on detailing the scheme by trying to capture what the atmosphere of this space might be. My idea is that certain areas of the street will be blockaded off for different types of trash (ie. plastics, glass, etc). These areas will be marked by a structural wall made of the recycled material. Furthermore, there will be some sort of transport system that allow the trash to travel across the streets of Gerani to their respective locations. In the timeline, the trash on the streets will pile up allowing a constantly changing street landscape that bleeds out into the surroundings and allows access onto the rooftops. Also, biodegradable materials will be used to create rooftop gardens and a roofscape, but details of this have not yet been worked out.