The Architecture of Waste. Designing new avenues for public engagement with trash

Abstract

The system of waste processing currently exists as a linear process: trom cities of high densities to sprawling landscapes of waste, but as cities grow and densify, critical systems of waste infrastructure must be re-evaluated. Instead of today’s isolated and linear processes, urban and waste ecologies can become an interconnected and cyclical system. Current practic-es call for industrial processes to be pushed to the periphery of cities, thereby severing the rela-tionship between the urban environment we inhabit and the one that is required to support the way we live. If architects and designers become engaged in the conversation of waste manage-ment and other industrial processes that support the demands of the city, they can begin to re-pair the physical and mental separation of waste and public activity while introducing cultural, economic, and environmental value in waste infrastructure.