Tag: waste-management | ArchDaily

From Overlooked Waste to Circular Opportunity: Plastics in Construction

Eduardo Souza — Tue, 14 Oct 2025 07:30:00 +0000

Like the famous Russian Matryoshka doll, opening a package often feels like uncovering endless layers. Inside a cardboard box, there might be molded Styrofoam, then several plastic air pillows, and finally, individual plastic wrapping around each piece. Even a small product can leave behind a trail of plastic waste far larger than its size. Now imagine this logic applied to a construction site where every component, every delivery of materials, often arrives wrapped in multiple layers of protection. What already seems excessive in retail becomes monumental when repeated daily on large construction projects.

Zero Waste Cities: Urban Strategies from San Francisco and Singapore

Ankitha Gattupalli — Mon, 23 Sep 2024 07:30:00 +0000

With expanding urban populations and evolving consumption patterns, cities are faced with challenges pertaining to waste management. Traditional approaches centered on collection and disposal currently seem inadequate in the face of serious environmental concerns and resource scarcity. Waste management has become a focused topic to address, being introduced as a key strategy towards circular economies. The Zero Waste concept hopes to transform the way cities manage urban waste and build supportive cultures around it.

The Future of Smart Cities: How Digital Technologies are Transforming Urban Living in Barcelona and Dublin

Diogo Borges Ferreira — Fri, 09 Aug 2024 04:00:00 +0000

As the world witnesses an unprecedented exodus from rural to urban areas, cities face a monumental challenge: how to accommodate a constantly growing population? This phenomenon, characterized by rapid population growth and increasing density, puts pressure on resources, infrastructure, and urban services. As significant problems demand even larger solutions, it becomes necessary, more than ever, to rethink the tools at our disposal. In this challenging context, the rise of emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), data analytics, and artificial intelligence (AI) presents itself as a light at the end of the tunnel. These technologies, initially conceived to simplify everyday tasks and facilitate communication, are potential instruments that enable an effective response to contemporary urban challenges.

Repurposing Discarded Waste Materials Into a 100%* Recycled Washbasin

Enrique Tovar — Thu, 09 May 2024 06:45:00 +0000

Producing sustainable materials and products demands constant analysis of how we conserve resources and manage waste effectively. This unfolds within a scenario where the environmental impacts of global warming and the climate crisis are becoming increasingly evident. In that context, sustaining the dialogue on waste disposal is fundamental to positively impacting our environment and maximizing circular economy opportunities.

Walk on Waste: Weaving Waste into Stylish Floorings and Rugs

Enrique Tovar — Mon, 08 Apr 2024 06:45:00 +0000

In contemporary architecture, recycling has evolved from a desirable to an unavoidable necessity. This change is mainly due to the growing climate crisis, accentuated by the constant presence of waste (for which no use has been found beyond the initial one).

"3-Minute Pavilion" by WallMakers Explores Waste and Material Scarcity at the Sharjah Triennial 2023

Nour Fakharany — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 05:30:00 +0000

The Sharjah Architecture Triennial opened on November 11, 2023, with the theme of The Beauty of Impermanence: An Architecture of Adaptability. Curated by Tosin Oshinowo, the program focused heavily on the Global South and alternative models the region can provide in the future. As part of the Triennial, the “3-Minute Corridor” pavilion by WallMakers explores our waste on a global scale, exploring methodologies of material reuse.

Rethinking the Biennale: In Conversation with Anh-Linh Ngo, Curator of the German Pavilion at the 2023 Venice Biennale

Nour Fakharany — Fri, 08 Sep 2023 05:30:00 +0000

The German Pavilion Open for Maintenance / Wegen Umbau geöffnet at this years 18^th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia was curated by ARCH+ and Summacumfemmer Büro Juliane Greb. At its core, the exhibition addresses the resource problem and the material cycles of the biennale. Inside the pavilion is a functioning workshop dedicated to applying these concepts of care, repair, and maintenance to Venice onsite. In Venice, ArchDaily had the chance to speak with the co-curator Anh-Linh Ngo, where he discussed the different aspects of the German Pavilion.

The Story of the World's Largest Floating Plastic Island (and What to Do With It)

Helena Tourinho — Tue, 23 May 2023 04:00:00 +0000

Environmental issues urgency and increasing temperatures on the planet are nothing new. There are many factors contributing to environmental degradation. However, two can be viewed as representative of critical points in the current world system: plastic and waste disposal, better known as garbage.

How Will We Live With Livestock?

Matthew Maganga — Sun, 29 Jan 2023 05:30:00 +0000

As populations continue to migrate from rural to urban areas, space is at a premium. Many settlements are becoming ever-more congested – with adequate, affordable housing in short supply and transport systems struggling to serve their respective residents. But as much the conversation about urbanization is about people, it is sometimes also about the animals that come with those people – urban livestock that play a key role at providing sustenance on an individual level, in addition to becoming an avenue for communal trade.

A City's Trash is Not It's Treasure: How is New York Tackling its Garbage Issues?

Kaley Overstreet — Tue, 03 Jan 2023 05:30:00 +0000

The scene is almost identical, no matter which borough of New York City you’re in. Narrow sidewalks are lined by mountains of trash bags and other large objects, waiting for their turn to be taken away by the fleet of sanitary workers and trucks who will dispose of them. Large rodents seek shelter in their temporary plastic homes, feeding on discarded scraps, becoming a regular sighting for New York City residents. The City That Never Sleeps has a bigger problem than the flashing lights and noisy streets- it’s all of the trash that’s left to sit out on the sidewalks.

What Do We Do With Waste? The Circular Economy and the Global South

Matthew Maganga — Wed, 08 Jun 2022 04:00:00 +0000

A lot of people around the world would agree that we are currently in a climate emergency. The IPCC report, released last year, makes for difficult reading. Practitioners in the built environment have taken to direct climate action, with organizations such as ACAN and Architects Declare fostering carbon literacy and calling for designers to re-evaluate how they practice.

Circular Economy in Urban Design: Sustainability and Community Involvement

Andreea Cutieru — Fri, 04 Mar 2022 07:30:00 +0000

While circular economy is often discussed in relation to the architectural object through the lens of material recycling, design for disassembly, and material passports, the framework is most fully enacted at the neighbourhood and city scale. Whether it is visions of circular communities that hint at some level of self-sufficiency or policies set in motion by cities, urban-scale projects exemplify the guiding principles of the circular economy, providing a glimpse into what a fully-fledged version of it might look like. The following explores the strategies used in circular urban environments, from architecture and construction materials to energy production, waste management and food production, as well as the processes and operations that govern these designs, providing insights into the conditions that inform circularity.

The Eco-Friendly Floating Cities of the Future

Lindsey Leardi — Fri, 18 Jan 2019 07:30:00 +0000

As the world population grows, designers look to develop the seas. Architecture and planning firm, URBAN POWER strategically designed nine man-made islands off the southern coast of Copenhagen to combat many of the city’s impending challenges. The islets, called Holmene, address demands for tech space, fossil-free energy production, flood barriers, and even public recreation space.

"Plastic Island" Imagines the Possibilities of Reusing Oceanic Waste in Architecture

Vasundhra Aggarwal — Thu, 01 Nov 2018 05:00:00 +0000

With rising sea levels and incessant consumption of plastic, the state of the earth's oceans is rapidly deteriorating. Instead of discarding or burning this plastic, architects Erik Goksøyr and Emily-Claire Goksøyr questioned whether any architectural potential exists in this neglected material. By conducting an extensive material study, the duo designed three prototypes to postulate this theory.

New Photographs Explore BIG’s Waste-to-Energy Plant as Ski Slope Roof is Installed

Niall Patrick Walsh — Tue, 08 May 2018 12:00:00 +0000

Photographer Aldo Amoretti has captured new images of one of 2018’s most awaited projects, as the BIG designed Amager Bakke Waste-to-Energy Plant takes shape in Copenhagen, complete with an SLA-designed park and ski slope. The images show to the completed power plant, which opened in March 2017, while work progresses on the 170,000-square-foot (16,000-square-meter) park and ski slope that will cap the scheme.

6 Compete to Design World's Largest Waste-to-Energy Plant in Shenzhen

Karissa Rosenfield — Mon, 02 Nov 2015 14:00:00 +0000

Six teams have been shortlisted to design the world's largest waste-to-energy plant in Shenzhen, China: Arup, Atkins, AECOM, Gerber Architekten, Schmidt Hammer Lassen with Gottlieb Paludan Architects, and local firm Tanghua Architects. Aiming to manage Shenzhen's growing population (and waste accumulation), the "Shenzhen East Waste-to-Energy Plant" plans to incinerate 5000 tonnes of waste daily and generate an estimated 550 million kWh per year.

Can Waste Be Used to Regenerate Our Cities?

Karissa Rosenfield — Sat, 13 Jul 2013 00:00:00 +0000

With the rise of urban dwellers comes the rise of urban waste. And, although the hidden life of garbage is still ignored by many, there is no way of escaping one of modern societies most pressing issues: unsustainable waste management. Though many plausible and obvious solutions have already been suggested and are ready to be implemented, some experts are proposing radical solutions that may one day be a reality.

Chicago's Cook County Aims to Eradicate Demolition Waste

Lisa Wronski — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Cook County, Illinois, recently brought the elimination of construction waste to a new level by creating the first demolition debris ordinance in the Midwest. This groundbreaking ordinance requires most of the debris created from demolition to be recycled and reused instead of being sent to the landfill. The ordinance helps contribute to Cook County’s zero waste goal, part of the Solid Waste Plan Update.