Nature is about symbiotic relations among its elements and living beings, hence evidences of re use and recycle of everything are present. In fact the beautiful creation of this Earth and everything on it is out of a dying star; whose dust is the elements present in us all, an ultimate example of reuse.
Nature and the universe have provided enough clues of their working and processes; that everything is reused and recycled, and hence there is no concept of waste in their processes.
This project looks at an area in Ahmedabad, Memnagar with the existing waste management system and attempts to intervene in the informal yet significant sector of the system. It is an extension to an existing waste collecting organisation to ‘Wealth of Waste’ which buys dry waste from local people around. The functional extension includes employing rag pickers to recycle paper, plastic and glass into products or raw material; allows for theoretical research in this field and practical experimenting as well; display and sales of recycled products; place to organise workshops and invites the city to visit, learn and change their perception towards waste.
There are two main parts of the program, one is the core that keeps the place running the, recycling unit where, plastic, paper and glass recycling takes place into products or as raw materials; and the other is the part that opens up to the city. This part holds product exhibits, workshops for students, citizens. The built is made using the recycled products, and the waste brought in as raw material, from recycled paper bricks, metal chains, to tyres as the building materials.
The building itself attempts to change the perception of waste. The building lets use of vision, feel, and sound to create experience of movement, texture, cool and warm, light and dark, by walking through all that was once waste. This part makes the visitor go through an experience using more than one senses, and simultaneously walking through all that was once waste. The built and the display areas educate the city.
A wall binds together both these parts, is also metaphorically a display wall, for welcoming posters, installations, and a shield against the exposed South side as well.