PLUME PROJECT
Centralia, USA
Crisis: Environmental / Social
Project Description:
“The Plume Project” addresses the case of Centralia, USA, where in 1962, an underground coal mine caught fire, causing the abandonment of the small town. The proposal attempts to reverse the catastrophic effects by analyzing and taking advantage of the site’s uninhabitable conditions. Utilizing cutting-edge technology, a series of elevated, cloud-like, ethereal capsules will capture plumes of smoke and heat, eventually allowing inhabitants to return. The project’s spatial conditions filter the air, control the temperature, and offer nebulous, floating and almost dream-like living environments.
JUNK-E REHAB
Guiyu village, Guangdong Province, China
Crisis: Environmental
Terrain: Contaminated land & water
Program: E-Waste / Solving for health risks
Project Description:
The electronic waste in the village of Guiyi has been described as an “E-Waste Nightmare” by Green Peace, having caused severe problems to people’s health and to the environment. Located in China’s Guangdong Province, Guiyu is an informal recycling space for a wide variety of electronic devices. Many of the heavy metals and toxins in these electronics contaminate the soil and the water. Polluted drinking water has created dangerously bad health conditions for citizens who live and work there, and has been linked to the deaths of local children. Guiyu is the only dumping of e-waste in Chine, which receives about 70% of global e-waste every year. What motivated us to research and find solutions for this crisis is the fact that in the nect few decades almost every country in the East will face this problem due to population rise and technological development. We are facing an international crisis that poses serious risks to public health, the environment, and financial systems.
“JUNK-e Rehab” applies new recycling techniques and the step-by-step restoration of the environment in order to help improve people’s health. The proposal offers an architectural solution for dealing with e-waste and encourages innovative material solutions, providing facilities for the citizens of Guiyu to apply new skills, knowledge and time on environmentally-sustainable building typologies. The building will house training facilities and safe and clean residential spaces with access to innovate utilities that connect to infrastructure on the urban scale.
Alessandra Swiny 