P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E

Design for Cycability

Design to Minimise Waste

OECD has estimated that by 2020 we will generate 45% more waste than we did in 1995. One billion items of clothing a year are sent to landfill (2 739 726 a day, 114 155 per hor). 272 000 tonnes of electric (such as computers) are being sent to landfill, in Canada. 90% of production materials end up in waste. We have now come to terms of producing enough plastic to cover the entire planet Earth.

Meanwhile, there are ways to minimise waste... P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E Project by Korteknie Stuhlmacher Architecten is a good example. An angular building, attached to the roofs of a warehouse near the Mass River in Rotterdam. It looks as it could be a sculpture, but its a prototype for a sustainable, opportunistic new urban housing - one that mixes pragmatism and sustainability.

Located in Rotterdam, at the top of a warehouse called Las Palmas, which has now been renowated and serves as an art gallery and exhibition space... The prototype is designed to explore the potential new systems that combine sustainability and prefabrication. It suggests that we should take advantage of exsting (and often underused) water and central heating in old industrial buildings as it doesn't require demolishing, cutting back the need to resourse. The architects used large, laminted panells called LenoTec, which is made out of waste wood and can be used for walls, floors and even roofs. Putting the panels together was done in four days.

Nearly 1000 meters square P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E was completed for about $115 per square, less than half the average of an architect design home in the US.

Recycling is a way to prevent wastage. Being able to minimise it would mean cleaning the landfill, as much as possible. I agree with the perception of it. It is worrying what's happening around us, and how little we know. As designers we should try to explore more and investigate. We can open people's eyes and invite them for a change. As we alrady know that plastic can cover the whole planet, we can only do better by redesigning and recycling whatever we can.

Alana Stang & Christopher Hawthorne, 2010. The green house: New directions in Sustainable Architecture. Princeton Architectual Press.