The Dumb Machine by Freddo Daneshvaran

THE DUMB MACHINE by

Freddo Daneshvaran advisors: Caroline O’Donnell Curt Gambetta

Ithaca, New York, United States, M.Arch. December 2021 @fd265

THE DUMB MACHINE by

Freddo Daneshvaran A thesis presented to the Cornell University in fulfillment of the thesis requirement for the degree of Master of Architecture

Ithaca, New York, United States, December 2021 @fd265

DISCLAIMER: All design, graphics, claims and text were produced by Farzad (Freddo) Daneshvaran, as part of Master thesis of Architecture at Cornell University.

ABSTRACT The Dumb Machine is about how architecture can synergize a symbiotic relationship between different species that arise from humanity’s reliance on plastic. Most of our plastics leak into the ocean where they continue to slowly breakdown into toxic microplastics. This thesis proposes a park along The East River, NY to filter microplastics from water and to biodegrade polyethylene (PE) getting help from a few species. The policies that keep us away from recycling facilities, rarely emphasize that our current linear system only recycles about 9% of all plastic waste. Plastic is produced by humans but ties different species together due to its long lifespan and toxicity. Despite our best efforts to recycle, the cracks in the system let plastics degrade in the soil and eventually entering our water streams. Plastic continues to breakdown into microplastics, leaching and attaching itself to other beings and involuntarily involving them. This thesis emphasizes that if there is a project to be done about this problem, its architecture should play a role in making the entanglement of different beings with plastic visible. With rivers naturally flowing to the ocean, the thesis hypothesizes about mundane ways of filtering what is already in water breaking down, and about slowing down the rate of microplastic dispersion further into our oceans. Most importantly, this thesis proposes that mitigating the impact of humanity’s plastic problem may require a helping hand from other species. Researchers have recently discovered that the wax moth larvae (also known as waxworm), which feeds on beewax, has the ability to digest and effectively biodegrade PE. PE is the most common type of plastic around the world, accounted for roughly 30% of all production, and is used in packaging, food wraps, shrinking wraps, plastic bags, etc. Since PE has a very similar molecular structure to beewax, it is safe for waxworms to eat it when mixed in a 1 to 1 ratio with beewax. Miraculously, the byproduct of waxworms feeding on PE is that they poop glycol ethylene which has many industrial applications – in lightbulbs, eye drops, fabrics, etc. For this thesis, an ecological closed-loop is the necessary means to mediate the relationships between the species involved. This thesis recognizes that before orchestrating a circular economy of resources, it must address the well-being of its constituents. It approaches other species not as laboratory instruments or variables, but as full beings that either thrive or suffer when they encounter plastic. Plastic biodegradation binds us together: wax moths, honeybees, plants, fish, and humans. How can every species in this loop benefit, not just the human? And how can architecture devise a multispecies collaboration in response to an especially human-derived problem like plastic, is the main question that this thesis will unpack. The language of architecture herein is carefully curated of curves and loops showing the entanglement of a multispecies co-habitat. Its proposal, a series of water ways, and hair-like pneumatic system to catch microplastics. Elevated landscapes for bees and flowers, enclosures for waxworms below, and pools for fish; a social engagement around plastic biodegradation that opens itself up to the public, nested in a New York city’s baseball park. v

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I began this thesis with a desire to do something positive and impactful. A thirst for finding a new understanding between things which I never thought I would go together! Putting many hats on and feeling responsible about lives – ours and our animal’s – and trying to see it from their point of view. And I attribute this to the faculty, teachings and unequivocally academic yet warm ecosystem of Cornell AAP which has nourished me for the past three and half years in the becoming of the person that I am. Thank you to my advisor, my boss and the amazing Chair of Cornell School of Architecture, Caroline O’Donnell for challenging me on every aspect of ecological design-thinking. For guiding me to fly over the territories which were so unfamiliar to me. For constantly encouraging me to “go for it”, and to believe in my re-imagination of things. And thank you to Curt Gambetta, my advisor who always kept calm when I was not, and who always grounded me when I was bouncing around. Your guidance through the dense body of knowledge on recycle, waste, animal architecture, and animal welfare opened up a new discourse in my now-sharpened theoretical lens. I am very grateful and thankful to Martin Fields Miller for his critical teachings throughout my education and his insight in every chance we got to chat. Your support and easy conversing have guided me immensely through this ecological process. Thank you to Gesa Büttner Dias for ever-so-gently nudging me to think about the ‘now’, and to problematize it seriously. Thank you to David Costanza – whose class on ‘our plastic futures’ opened a new can of worms for me on plastics. Thank you to Greg Keeffe for introducing the water into my arsenal which helped situate this thesis into a happier, more vibrant ecological placement. I am grateful to Idil Derman, my thesis helper, without whose support, I and my massive model would have fallen apart. I am grateful for all the classes, labs, research, TAships, and students I engaged with that helped me prepare beyond just this thesis. I am thankful to my friends and roommates who always have embraced the insanity of my thoughts as a unique feature that I must keep in my designs. Thank you to my family and friends for never blinking an eye when I decided to go back to graduate school after so many years of working. Thank you to my brother Navid, for teaching me everything there is to know about the tesla valves. And thank you to my better half, Jenn, for always believing in me, and challenging me to push exuberantly forward every day and in every way possible. And finally, thank you to Lobo, my awesome husky, whose eyes are the reason why I awoke years ago to love the animals and see every living-being, small or large, as though they are just another dog, just another good-boy with a will to live happily. vi

we are so entangled, and we don’t realize it. we just do and wait for others to make it better. maybe one day we’d learn... As Derrida puts it: “responsibility is never calculable.”

vii

TABLE OF CONTENT

v vi x

Abstract Acknowledgment Introduction

part one

13 15 16 17 19

Plastic Diaspora Crude & Misplaced Oil Polity Plastic Polity, Alienated Trash & Trash-man Cracks in the System

part two

25 27 28 29

Involuntary Involvement Plastic Entanglement Dyeing Things Things Dying

part three

33 35 37

Interspecies Knot Animal Entanglement & Perception Wax Moths, Bees & Other Helpers

part four

43 45

Paying Attention Too Machine-like to Recycle

part five

57 59 71 79

Feeding By Upending The Problem of 10 Commandments Micro...whut?? I ❤ ‘Floating Filth’

part six

99 107

conclusion bibliography

INTRODUCTION

I always liked the old factories! The smell of cool moist air, the light shining through the dust mites, illuminating every grain of god-knowswhat went there before it was all torn apart and closed-down. Here and then, you’d find something so striking that you just cannot take your eyes from: old machinery, left-over barrels and boxes, the mud on the floor, the quiet sound of darkness and the punching sound of water dripping from holes that you just cannot see. Afterall with our architectural training, we are hard-wired to love the things around us that are physical, and sensual. Though I often feel that we over-estimate the temporal things, and under-estimate how precious the life of the things around us can be, I still think that in the language of architecture there has always been a motive for us to find our place within the larger picture. I don’t mean that we make sense of things in the same way we draw our sections and plans. But we as humans, are meaning-making animals. That in our training, we are constantly wearing many hats to reconcile what we think is right! As I stood in that grand old factory, I couldn’t help but stare at the light shining through those tiny holes at those perfect moments; to try and memorialize them as birds sitting on a perch. The kind of birds that you look at them for five seconds too long, and you’d scare them off. I found myself thinking and romanticizing about the beauty of the light coming in, and how wonderful would it be to renovate this old cement factory, to bring people back in, and let them enjoy the lights, the way I enjoy them as birds… And then I caught myself! I caught myself deep in the language of light and shadow: that those are not birds! Light is not a bird! A bird is a bird! And this very amazing dilapidating cement factory is probably sitting where once an ecosystem of trees, tall grass, insects, worms, water, and wood-land creatures lived. Birds were here too… where are they now? I cannot see them or even hear them. This very building has probably destroyed every definition of what a bird sees suitable for life and longevity. Needless to say, the process of making the cement, extracting things from the ground, poisoning the above and underground water, cutting the trees and the tall grass, killing the worms, killing the ecosystem probably killed the birds too. They once happily lived here, and coyotes too, mice and bobcats… Nobody wants to be here, no animal wants to live here. x

This punched a hole through my thoughts, but instead of light shining through it, I felt useless and upset. I always loved the old factories, who doesn’t? But it was here and then that I realized something so striking that I could not look any further. I knew that I have to do something about it, and that same language of architecture must be capable of meaning-making for birds too. Why is it so hard to see it from the bird’s point of view before we build this thing? Why do we need to operate within the capitalist means of production for so long that we forget how interconnected we are? Why do we forget that we are just another animal, like the birds, and we need one another around? And how is it that even in our very own coveted theory of architecture, we always have the hardest time reconciling sustainability? Can we build while being ecologically sustainable and welcoming to other species? Don’t we know better now? Don’t we have the technological advances, knowledge, and resources to integrate us all in our new proposals of the built environment? As I drove-off from the old factory with mixed emotions, and handful of hard questions, I kept thinking about the ‘now’. The factories once stood up square attesting our accomplishment in technology. And the machine aesthetic, attesting our trust in the simple platonic geometry ever-sopleasing in the eyes of its 20th century architects, scholars, critics, and people. What about now? What is the new factory? What is the new machine aesthetic? And can there be an ecological process behind the design of it all? What problems do we have now? What problems do we have in the 21st century? What problems do birds have?

Introduction

part one

PLASTIC DIASPORA

Fig 1.1. Kelly Jazvac, “Plastiglomerate Samples” (2013) - photo by Jeff Elstone 14

THE DUMB MACHINE

essay one Def’n. plasticine pointing to the material that is choking the Earth

Crude & Misplaced

Millions of years, pressure, heat, and biological organism worked together to make up the crude oil. Just like any other children of Earth, plastics contain carbon atoms within their chemical makeup, hence the term organic. It is uncanny to realize that we are almost unable to get away from the plastics. Look around your house, your room, your very desk that you are currently sitting against, or the phone that you are staring at through those glasses or contact lenses. It is guaranteed that you are in contact with some form of plastic! No one can deny the importance and the necessity of plastics! We cannot really live without them. From food packaging to building construction, sanitation to healthcare and medical apparatuses, automobiles to micro-mobile parts, computer parts, and body parts, we are surrounded by their incredible lightness, durability, cheap cost, fast manufacturing, easy-towork-with, and beautiful-to-look-at characteristics. Maybe, George Carlin was right about god not knowing how to make the plastics, so she created us. And in return of her favor, we would create all the plastics from the organic goo deep inside the earth crust and kill every living-being with it. All so that god can keep all the plastics to herself! We are not so far from this reality, are we? It is simply a hyperbole to say that we live in a crisis, as that implies a certainty, an off chance that things might work out for the better if we just kept going. We live quite literally in the age of plasticine, where plastic is choking the earth. Plastic Diaspora

For billions of years, earth has managed the life, death, and the waste of her species. Within roughly one hundred years, since the emergence of plastics in 1936, humans changed that balance. There is plastic in our blood streams, and our children’s blood steam, and our dog’s blood steam, and our river’s water stream! So if plastic was so useful, how did we get here?

Oil Polity

Considering the dreadful task of extracting the oil from the crust of the earth, and the painstakingly expansive efforts that goes along with locating where the oil is in the first place, we can easily make a mark in our books that we must really need oil.

Fig 1.2. Officials “covered up” massive offshore oil well leak in coast of Australia, May 2017

Not only our human’s global economy is built around how much $ does a barrel of oil cost on daily basis, we often than not, rage wars against each other to put our hands and boots on the best possible location for where the most oil lives. Oil is as hidden from our sight below the ground and oceans, as is every intention behind every modern war in human history. We rarely know or understand where the oil is actually coming from. What it took to build an amazing infrastructure in middle of the ocean and risk the lives of workers in areas where humans do not really live, like the middle of the ocean. All we know is how to use a rectangular plastic card with 14 digits on it and an expiration date that slides ever-so-smoothly in the slots of the gas tank in a gas station, and the beeping sound that tells us: you got gas! We feed our automobiles with gas, so tightly tied to our daily needs that people will seriously go on strikes when the gas price is marked up by a fraction of cent. From the local municipalities to the central governments, the policies are written to keep the people in balance. To give them gas, and to keep the price down and in equilibrium is no easy task! Neither is the brutal process of extracting oil from the oceans! Things leak at the time! In fact, there has been a least 44 major oil leaks since the oil embargo in 1969, affecting U.S. waters alone. Each with at least 420,000 gallons spilling from the gut of the earth into the coast. That is enough to cover the entire lower Manhattan in 1-inch-deep film of oil. And what about the spills that we do not hear about? The ones that different governments around the globe simply cover up, because let’s face it, if we don’t see it, It doesn’t really affect us, or does it? The business is as usual. It must be kept this way, or else the price of oil will fluctuate more than the capitalist society can afford. Oil and gas are not the end of this. Plastic is reliably made almost entirely from synthetic oil. 16

THE DUMB MACHINE

Capitalism must do what it can to ensure the supply of crude oil to these entities, or other industries that heavily depend on the oil will collapse. Now we are dealing with the big money! The constituency is no longer you, I or grandma, but the multi-trillion-dollar plastic industry run by some of the most powerful corporations around the world. We do have the humanitarian task force taking vital steps to hold the oil industry accountable. We have our amazing journalist who would risk their reputation and sometimes their lives to uncover the truth about the oil politics and oil spills and bring our attention to what we have done to the earth. The question that yet remains: is it really the oil industry, and the politics around it which lead to the spills? Or is it ‘us’ the human, the user, the demander who by overusing, over-consuming and wasting lay the foundation for these oil disasters to take place. Did we all need our own cars? Our own three-car garages to then fill with three massive cars. Despite our best efforts in technology, like it or not, the oil will always spill.

Plastic Polity, Alienated Trash & Trash-man

Oil polity and plastic polity do no take sufficient action to undo the damage done by the process of oil extraction, the making of plastics, or its life after for that matter. Other than some guy taking the trash out on Monday mornings, most of us have little idea about what it takes to rid of waste. To recycle! This forgotten and yet romanticized relationship to our waste has nearly made the trash and the trash-man alienated from sight. New York City alone produces 11,000 tones garbage, and 2,000 tons of recyclables every day. Imagine what would happen if trash and recycle is not taken care of just one day! It is hard to fathom because the job is done so immaculately. We do not even realize that without them we are days away from unimaginable amounts of infections, and diseases taking over lives and killing us! Imagine if our bodies did not have an immune system to fend us from microbes and bacteria, if we didn’t have digestive tract that got rid of waste! Now imagine working long hours from early morning every day and in every back alley and front alley, thankless! Imagine working in the most dangerous areas of the city, always near the streets, next to moving cars risking our life, let alone the nauseating smell of rot and gunk, and in return you get yelled at because you took five-seconds too long to load the trash, your trash! We barely ever recognize the trash-man! Trash and recycling facilities do not make it any easier for us. They are designed closed off to keep us out, so we consume, and we produce waste with little to no worries, detached from reality. Plastic Diaspora

Fig 1.3. Floating plastic pollution over Victoria Harbour, Honk Kong

5% DOWNCYLING 2-3% PROCESS LOSSES LOSS

9% RECYCLED

12% INCINERATED

1-2% CLOSED LOOP RECYCLING

FOSSIL FUELS

407 MIL. TONNES OF PLASTIC

44% LANDFILLS

35% LEAKS INTO THE ENVIRONMENT

Fig 1.4. Linear plastic flow of current recycling system 18

THE DUMB MACHINE

essay two Def’n. circular having the form of a circle Def’n. circular economy non linear system where the output feeds into the input

Cracks in the System

The policies that keep us away from recycling facilities, rarely emphasize that our current linear system only recycles about 9% of all plastic waste. Lands are filled, some are burnt, and much of it leaks into the ocean. Plastic being compound polymers, is extracted from crude oil. Durable, and often long lasting with almost unlimited applications are why oil is anywhere and everywhere. In 2015, the world production of plastic reached 407 million tones, and we are projected to reach more than half billion by 2030. It is hard to stomach that about 44% of all plastic ends up in our landfill. We have been able to use our massive industrial incinerators to burn about 12% of plastics and use the energy to as electricity (which of course is not that easy or harmless; because as we burn plastics, we also produce carbon dioxide that either has to be contained or released back into the atmosphere). About 9% of plastics is sorted, deemed “useful” and enters the recycling facilities; 5% of which gets downcycled to a lesser quality material than its original condition, and a possible shot at being re-used one more time. This means downcycling will eventually lead to such low-quality material condition that we would have no choice but to rid of it. About 2-3% of plastics are often unsortable: these are plastics that are either a compound mixture, or simply too small for our average recycling machinery to pick out. With advances of technology, especially in Europe, optics-sorting has come to save us; although, the technology adds kilometers to the conveyor belt sortation system and therefore, not yet feasible in most developing countries, or U.S. for that matter. Plastic Diaspora

Def’n. thermoset heated then let solidify Def’n. thermoplastic plastics that work best under heat

ETHYLENE

VINYL CHLORIDE

GAS

VINYL ACETATE

GASOLINE

ETHYLENE

NAPTHA

ETHYLENE GLYCOL

KEROSENE PROPOLENE

PROPOLENE

CUMENE

LIGHT OIL

ACRYLATES

BENZENE EPOXY

XYLENE

CRUDE OIL

STYRENE

PHENOL

DIESEL LUBRICATING OIL RESIDUE, ASPHALT

TEREPHTHALIC ACID

Fig1.5. Diagram of transformative nature of crude oil to different types of plastic, and breakdown per method of formation.

THE DUMB MACHINE

ER TH MO ER PLA M OS STIC ET RE THCY ERCL M AB OP L LAE BTHI E ST ODR IC M RE EGORS CY AEDT TH CL AB ER AB LE M LE O BI THOD PLA EREG ST IC MR RE OSAD CY ETAB LE TH CL ER AB T M LE BTHI ER OP HOE M LA DRE O S MG SE TI ORSA T C RTE EDTA H BL THCEYRC E ERMLOA M PBL OP AE S BI OD LASTIC TI RE EG C RECY RA CYCL DA CLAB BL L AB E E BI LE BIOD ODEG EGRA RADA DABL BLE E

ER M OS

APPLICATIONAPPLICATION

ENEETHYLENE ETHYLENE ETHYLENE

HDPE

HDPE HDPE

liquid jugs, juice liquid containers, jugs, juice yoghurt containers, liquidcartoons, jugs, juice yoghurt household containers, liquid cartoons, jugs, cleaning juice yoghurt household liquid liquid containers, bottles jugs, cartoons, jugs, cleaning juice juice yoghurt household containers, bottles cartoons, cleaning yoghurt yoghurt household bottles cartoons, cleaning household household cleaning cleaning bottles 2containers, 2 cartoons, 2 bottles 2 bottles

2 2

LDPE

LDPE LDPE

garbage cans, garbage paneling,cans, furniture, paneling, garbage flooring, furniture, cans, bubble paneling, garbage flooring, wrap,furniture, food cans, bubble garbage packaging paneling, garbage wrap, flooring, cans, food cans, furniture, bubble packaging paneling, paneling, flooring, furniture, food furniture, bubble packaging flooring, wrap, bubble food bubble packaging wrap, food food packaging packaging 4 wrap, 4 flooring, 4 wrap, 4

4 4

PU PU

PVC

PVC PVC

PVA (ALCOHOL) PVA (ALCOHOL) PVA (ALCOHOL) PVA (ALCOHOL) PVA PVA (ALCOHOL) (ALCOHOL)

insulation, footwear, insulation, bedding, footwear, refrigerators insulation, bedding, footwear, refrigerators insulation, bedding, footwear, refrigerators insulation, insulation, bedding, footwear, footwear, refrigerators bedding, bedding, refrigerators refrigerators food wrap, plumbing food wrap, pipes, plumbing tiles,food medical pipes, wrap,equipment tiles, plumbing medical foodpipes, wrap, equipment plumbing food food medical wrap, wrap, pipes, plumbing equipment tiles, medical pipes, pipes, tiles, equipment medical medical equipment equipment 3tiles, 3 plumbing 3tiles, 3

EVA

white glue

EVA EVA

TES ACRYLATES ACRYLATES ACRYLATES

white glue

white white glue glue

shoe insole, foam shoemats insole, foamshoe matsinsole, foamshoe matsinsole, foam shoe shoe mats insole, insole, foam foam mats mats fabrics, threads, fabrics, safetythreads, belts, tire safety fabrics, reinforcement belts, threads, tire reinforcement safety fabrics,belts, threads, tire fabrics, fabrics, reinforcement safety threads, belts, threads, tire safety safety reinforcement belts, belts, tiretire reinforcement reinforcement

POLYESTER POLYESTER POLYESTER POLYESTER POLYESTER POLYESTER

NE CUMENECUMENE CUMENE

PES

PES PES

PEPE

POM

POM POM

PBS

PBS PBS

medical articles, medical mulching articles, filmsmedical mulchingarticles, films medical mulchingarticles, films medical medical mulching articles, articles, filmsmulching mulching films films

PET

PET PET

shatterproof packaging, shatterproof water packaging, bottles shatterproof water1 packaging, bottles shatterproof water shatterproof bottles shatterproof water packaging, bottles water water bottles 1 packaging, 1packaging, 1 bottles

1 1

PPPP

bottle caps, battery bottlecases caps, battery bottle caps, battery cases caps, battery bottle bottle cases caps, battery battery cases 5 cases 5bottle 5 caps, 5cases

5 5

PAN

PAN PAN

textile chemicals textile chemicals textile chemicals textile chemicals textile textile chemicals chemicals anti-freeze, medicine anti-freeze, bottles medicine anti-freeze, bottles medicine anti-freeze, bottles medicine anti-freeze, anti-freeze, bottles medicine medicine bottles bottles gears, screws,gears, wheelsscrews, wheels gears, screws, wheels gears, screws, gears, wheels gears, screws, screws, wheels wheels

fiber reinforcedfiber concrete, reinforced awnings, concrete, fiberhot reinforced gas awnings, filtration concrete, fiber hotsystem reinforced gasawnings, filtration fiber fiber concrete, system reinforced hotreinforced gasawnings, filtration concrete, concrete, system hot awnings, gas awnings, filtration hothot system gas gas filtration filtration system system nail polish, hairnail color, polish, lotion, hairartcolor, nail materials polish, lotion, hair art materials color, nail polish, lotion, hair artnail materials nail color, polish, polish, lotion, hair hair art color, color, materials lotion, lotion, artart materials materials

ACETONESACETONES ACETONES ACETONESACETONES ACETONES

shatterproof glass, shatterproof aircraft canopy glass, shatterproof aircraft canopy glass, shatterproof aircraft canopy glass, shatterproof shatterproof aircraftglass, canopy glass, aircraft aircraft canopy canopy

PMMA

ACRYLIC

ACRYLIC ACRYLIC ACRYLIC

EPEP

CCL

CCL CCL

glass fabric, fiber glass paper, fabric, glass fiberfiber glass paper, fabric, glassfiber fiber glass paper, fabric, glassfiber glass fiber glass paper, fabric, fabric, glass fiber fiber fiber paper, paper, glass glass fiber fiber

SBR

SBR SBR

insulation grommets, insulation bumpers, grommets, insulation solidbumpers, strip/cord grommets, solid insulation strip/cord bumpers, grommets, insulation solid insulation strip/cord bumpers, grommets, grommets, solid bumpers, strip/cord bumpers, solid solid strip/cord strip/cord

EPS

EPS EPS

PSPS

ABS

ABS ABS

EREPHTHALIC LIC ACID TEREPHTHALIC TEREPHTHALIC ACID ACID ACIDCPL

CPL

CPL CPL

PBAT

PBAT PBAT

EPOXY EPOXY EPOXY

NE STYRENE STYRENE STYRENE

OL PHENOLPHENOL PHENOL

3 3

water soluble film, water textile soluble sizing film, water agent, textile soluble paper sizingadhesive film, agent, water textile paper soluble sizing adhesive water film, agent, water textile soluble soluble paper sizing film, adhesive film, agent, textile textile sizing paper sizing agent, adhesive agent, paper paper adhesive adhesive

PVA (ACETATE) PVA (ACETATE) PVA (ACETATE) PVA (ACETATE) PVA PVA (ACETATE) (ACETATE)

GLYCOL THYLENE ETHYLENE ETHYLENE GLYCOLGLYCOL GLYCOL

ENE PROPOLENE PROPOLENE PROPOLENE

APPLICATION APPLICATION APPLICATION

HDPE

VINYL ORIDECHLORIDE VINYL VINYLCHLORIDE CHLORIDE PVC

ETATE VINYL ACETATE VINYL VINYLACETATE ACETATE

APPLICATION

PBAT

Plastic Diaspora

PMMA PMMA

transparent glass transparent producuts glasstransparent producuts glasstransparent producuts glass transparent transparent producuts glass glass producuts producuts epoxy resin, paints epoxyand resin, coating paints epoxy and resin, coating paints epoxy and resin, coating paints epoxy epoxy and resin, resin, coating paints paints and and coating coating

styrofoam

styrofoam styrofoam

cups, plates, bowls cups, plates, cups, plates, cups, plates, bowls cups, plates, plates, bowls 6 bowls 6 bowls 6 cups, 6bowls keyboards, tattoo keyboards, ink, protective tattookeyboards, ink, headgear protective tattoo headgear keyboards, ink, protective tattoo keyboards, keyboards, headgear ink, protective tattoo tattoo ink, headgear ink, protective protective headgear headgear nylon filament,nylon fiber filament, fiber nylon filament, fiber nylon filament, nylon fiber nylon filament, filament, fiber fiber food packaging, food agricultural packaging, film, agricultural food adhesive packaging, film, and tape adhesive agricultural food packaging, and film, food tape food adhesive agricultural packaging, packaging, and film, agricultural tape agricultural adhesivefilm, and film, adhesive tape adhesive and and tape tape

6 6

additives 6%

other 4%

PE 29% PP&A fibers 14%

PUR 7%

PET 8%

PP 17% PVC 9%

Fig1.6. Percentage breakdown of plastic porduced around the globe

PS 6%

Unfortunately, only about 1-2% of all plastics win the ticket to our magical real of getting upcycled! That is to enter a closed-loop recycling, never losing value, and constantly being able to regain entry to become even a higher quality material! We are not just done yet! As if these numbers were not bad enough, it is with an awakening to learn that 35% of all plastic waste leaks into the environment! Keep in mind that this portion of plastic never even enter our landfills (the aforementioned 44%), they will skip the school and directly go on a tour around the world. Entering the sewage system where mice would play with them, entering our municipal bodies of water clamping clasp at our aquaponics, to our shores leaching on to our shellfish and turtles, our beaches beneath our feet, our rivers into the stomach of our fish and finally, our oceans. It is estimated that by 2050 there will be more plastic in our oceans than fish! 22

THE DUMB MACHINE

Def’n. upcycling to reuse in such a way as to create a product of higher quality

26.1%

5.7%

8.6%

20.1%

39.5%

Def’n. donwcycling to recycle in such a way that the resulting product is of a lower value than the original

LDPE

HDPE

PS-E

PVC

PET

ABS, SAN

PMMA

ETP

PUR

IN G

O C TI

KA PA C

IV E

U N ST R

C O

M OT

EC EL

other

By looking at the overall plastic demand per sector around the world, we notice how the low density (LDPE) and high density (HDPE) polyethylene take large chunk of production of all plastics. PE as the most common type of plastic around the world accounts for roughly 30% of all production, mostly for packaging, food wraps, shrinking wraps, and plastic bags. Due to mostly soft and loose nature of PE products, much of PE is sent directly to the landfills or joins the percentage that falls through the cracks of our current recycling machinery. What is already biodegrading the soil and, in the ocean, – at least in the Americas – is less to do with our lack of decency or care for our planet than it has to do with the lack of infrastructure. Nonetheless, and after we settle pointing the blame at each other or any other hypothetical factor… when the ashes settle… other species are those whom will have to pay the price too, not just the human! Plastic Diaspora

Fig1.7. Global plastic demand per sector, 2018

part two

INVOLUNTARY INVOLVEMENT

Fig 2.1. From production to consumption 26

THE DUMB MACHINE

essay three Def’n. entanglement a complicated or compromising relationship or situation

Plastic Entanglement

This is generally what I picture when I think of trash and recycling. An organized store with its colorful products that we happily stroll in for. And we buy and we consume what it is that we bought. I can sense a gap in my knowledge… but then, I see a charming and neat pile of plastics sorted by some invisible force that I cannot conceive. The force has helped pile things into a mound, somewhere none of us ever sees. Another gap in my thoughts... This one makes me want to sit down! This time, I don’t want to keep going! How I wish the bottom portion of this montage was not a real image! How I wish I never had come across the eye opening and hurting reality of our demise! What have we done to the earth? What have we done to her children? The ugly truth about this ugly montage is that this is far more beautiful than what is really happening right this moment, as you are reading this! This is beyond a humanitarian problem. Humans are suffering, and the worst part is that we have involuntary involved other species who have no stake at the matter. Some of us have it a lot easier than others as we just participate in the act of consuming plastics. A lot of us have it much harder as they take part in consuming but also collecting and sorting plastics for the rest of us. Some of us born with an ill-fortune of bad geography get no fair share or any joy of using plastics! They are also the main sufferers of our plastic diaspora. Involuntary Involvement

But as long as we are going around and pointing the fingers at each other, we can bunch all of our human-beings as relatively guilty in this process. It may be an over generalization, but safe to say that all humans at some point in their life were given a choice! A choice to use plastics to their benefit. Then, it must be fair to establish a common ground that plastics are produced by humans, so how have we tied different species together in our mess. Humanity’s plastics problem affects all forms of life, not just human beings. Though plastic is already degrading in soil and the ocean, it is leaching and attaching itself to other beings. It is killing ‘us’.

Dyeing Things

Fig 2.2. A dead oil covered bird on the Eastern end of Galveston ship Chanel. March 2014

It is not so often, but still too many times that we see the heart-breaking images of oil spills around the world. As noted in the previous sections, oil spills are more than just accidents of us humans unintentionally misplacing the crude liquid oil. They are extremely damaging the to the very ecosystem that us humans rely on! With every oil spill, and despite our best efforts to clean it up, we are confronted with a sad reality, images of beloved aquatic animals, small or large, winged, scaled, or shelled engulfed in misfortune! The image on the left is not a crow, but a vibrant and colorful seabird, dyed in with a bible black tar! Can we for a second imagine what this might look like if we just replaced this beautiful bird with beautiful human child! And here, in this thesis, I had to question myself with: “what is the difference?” How is it that most of us are less affected by this image, and why does it have to take us – the most intelligent of species – a swap game to realize the dire state of our actions. Again, the image on the left, is probably far more beautiful than the other millions of animal bodies that get covered, burned, tortured, and then sunk deep in the seas! Imagine how terrified and confused any animal must feel to come in deadly contact with something that they have not the slightest idea about. Imagine not understanding why feel poisoned, or not knowing why cannot flap your wings to fly, not understanding why you cannot swim! Even playing the selfish game here, how do we not account for animal rights and animal welfare when we are so dependent on them? Different species make up the very ecosystem which us humans benefit from. And for this reason, if not only for this reason, we need to be more invested in their welfare. Oil spills in our oceans kill the marine life and fish which we depend on as food supply. Even once we manage to clean up the immediate spilled oil off the water, and rescue the hurting animals along the way, the long-term effects of oil spills can become devastating, and permanently damaging for an already volatile ecosystem beyond repair and last generations. 28

THE DUMB MACHINE

Things Dying

It is a remarkable scene to witness to an animal eat. I must confess that probably the most satisfying part of my day-to-day life might revolve around the time when I feed my pets. It would always brighten any dark and gloomy day for me to watch and listen to my 16.5-year-old husky eat his food. After a while you can tell the difference between animal’s personalities just by how they approach their food. Lobo likes to walk up to food bowl that is slightly elevated from the floor, take one lick and a quick sniff, and then walk around in circles for a while. Then, he would come back and slowly begin to eat his food. He never devours it. Sometimes I sense that he is a very polite ole-gentleman just dressed up as a husky! But that is not it, he does not have to compete with for his food! He is large and has made it to the top of domestic food-chain! Smaller animals are not quite like that! They barely chew on anything! To them, it is almost like a binary operation system: food is equal to open mouth, and then just swallowing! The small neighborhood birds take small bites at the feeder, sometimes chirping mid-way, and keeping in an eye-out for the big bad hawk. They tend to eat something very quickly or eat something small! Just the type of food alone can tell us something about their placement in the ecosystem! The small birds, looking for small thing to eat, like small worms, or hard items like seeds and nuts of different kind. These seeds come in different colors and relatively different shapes! With no teeth, some birds frequently eat grit, small stones, sand, or small shells. This has to do with how their amazing digestive tract has evolved to work. Using their gizzard with its thick muscles and a bit of help from grits, the stomach pulverizes the food. What other small things are around that might catch the attention of a bird, who quickly looks at something to eat it while keeping an eye out for a possible predator? You guessed it! Small, shiny, and hard pieces of plastic! The plastic that was not supposed to be there as food! To a bird who has evolved to actively look for small rocks as part of its regiment, bits of plastic look like a great choice! Over time, when this eating pattern is settled as a habit, the pieces of plastic accumulate in its little stomach! Imagine the confusion and the pain that the bird must feel before its stomach bursts! Do we share no responsibility for killing of other species? Watching animals eat is a pleasure to witness! Feeding our own pets may be the best pleasure of all! So, what is the difference between the animals that we happily feed a proper diet of vitamins, and probiotics as though they are just another family member, and a washed-up dead bird with a stomach full of plastic! And what about every other animal and species who is left helpless and with no understanding of what the plastic is doing in their homes, in their food, in their bellies? How do we live in such state of indifference when we would not even dream of putting any plastic in our food? Involuntary Involvement

Def’n. microplastics bits of broken plastics that are less than 5 mm in diameter.

Fig 2.3. Bird’s stomach full of indigested plastics and micro-plastics

THE DUMB MACHINE

Fig 2.4. Human’s plastic ties species together

Involuntary Involvement

part three

INTERSPECIES KNOT

Fig 3.1. Getting a helping hand from other species 34

THE DUMB MACHINE

essay four

Def’n. interspecies existing or occurring between species

Animal Entanglement & Perception

In the previous section I allude to the fact that plastic is produced by humans but ties different species together due to its long lifespan and toxicity. Humanity’s plastics problem affects all forms of life, not just human beings. Though plastic is already biodegrading in soil and the ocean, it is leaching and attaching itself to other beings. It is killing ‘us.’ The main polemic of this thesis emphasizes if there is a project to be done about this problem, its architecture should play a role in making the entanglement of different beings with plastic visible. Most importantly, this thesis proposes that mitigating the impact of humanity’s plastic problem may require a helping hand from other species. Though we are not directly linked to one another, the common goal of plastic biodegradation binds us together: wax moths, honeybees, fish, plants and humans. Early on in the process of this thesis, I knew that I had to reside by a voice of reason in my head! A voice that wanted me to see it from the animal’s point of view and to not adhere to the capitalist modes of thinking. I was lucky that I had come across an amazing piece of writing by Donna Haraway whom explains things in plain simple terms: “The post humanist whispering in my ear reminds me that animals work in labs, but not under conditions of their own design, and that Marxist humanism is no more help for thinking about this for either people or other animals than other kinds of humanist formula.” Interspecies Knot

Fig 3.2. Waxworm’s ecosystem in a bee hive

The goal of this thesis has always been to examine the symbiotic relationship between these species. The main question that my thesis asks is that what are spatial, formal, and material consequences of operating within this multi species system. How can architecture devise this multi species collaboration in response to an especially humanderived problem like plastic? One the main topic that this thesis was concerned with was: for whom, for what, and by whom is a multi species design for? This thesis will align itself with biologists Mark Bekoff’s question: “Does the research benefit the animal?” And if Bekoff is concerned with research, this thesis is concerned with design. 36

THE DUMB MACHINE

Wax Moths, Bees, and Other Helpers

Def’n. hive series of broods that honey bees make to store food and grow their young

Researchers have recently discovered that the wax moth larvae – commonly known as the waxworm – which feeds on beewax, has the ability to digest and effectively biodegrade PE. PE is the most common type of plastic around the world, accounted for roughly 30% of all production, used in packaging, food wraps, shrinking wraps, plastic bags, etc. Since PE has a very similar molecular structure to beewax, it is safe for waxworms to eat it when mixed in a 1 to 1 ratio with beewax. Miraculously, the byproduct of waxworms feeding on PE is that they poop glycol ethylene which has many industrial applications – in light bulbs, eye drops, fabrics, etc. In several scientific studies done over the course of a year, the data indicates that these little guys can eat 182 mg of PE in 1 day! It is a slow rate, though compared to us sitting around waiting for PE to biodegrade – which roughly takes between 500 to 1000 years – is an astronomical improvement! If we want to involve other species to help us, we need to go with their rate! This means that to biodegrade 1 lb. of PE, we would need 8,250 waxworms for a whole month! Wax moths are typically seen as pests! They infest on beehives and can cause the collapse of a weak bee colony. The moths prefer to lay their eggs at night and then fly off undetected. As a result, the waxworms are born inside the beehive! And soon as they are born, they are ready to take in the delicious nectar and pollen mix (the wax.) In doing so, they begin biting and eating their way through the honeycomb structure, leaving a residue of silk! Once detected by the worker bees, it is almost too late since the worker bees are unable to get passed the sticky silk! So, the waxworm thrives, and the bees cry! And the cycle of infestation continues. As the waxworms mature, they enter the pupae stage when they turn silk into a cocoon and wait to return as mature moths. The moth stage is purely for mating and wax moths are born without a digestive tract! Their sole goal is to find a soulmate and lay eggs! Moths are around for about two weeks before they die. These are some of the rapid firings of my brain: wax moths full life cycle takes around 2 months, and even with a diet of PE + wax they are able to reproduce happily. So, we have the waxworms, and we need bees to make wax! Bees are pollinators, and need flowers, and plants. The bees and waxworms have a short but sweet life that only lasts about two months. So, we have dead waxworm, dead moths, and dead bees to use. Given that we need to have plants, they will need water. Fish needs water, and fish needs protein! What better food than dead worms, moths, and bees? Fish poops in the water that can be used to grow plants and flower! Waxworms eat PE, and poop glycol which we can use! Looks like we have a party! Interspecies Knot

Fig 3.3. Brood infestation of wax moths and worms

5.00 mm

0.36 mm

17.00 mm

0.44 mm

Fig 3.4. (top) Lesser wax moth egg lateral view, magnification = 110x; and close up of micropylar area, magnification = 560x.

Fig 3.5. dorsal (I), ventral (II) and lateral (III) view of a G. mellonella larva. A - sclerotised head with lateral stemmata, B - thorax, C - abdomen, D - antennae, E chewing mouthparts, F - pair of thoracic legs, G - claw, H - pair of prolegs, I - anal prolegs, J - prothorax spiracle, K - abdominal spiracle, L - spiracle of abdominal segment VIII (the largest of all).

(bottom) Greater wax moth egg lateral view, magnification = 110x; and close up of micropylar area, magnification = 560x. From Arbogast et al., 1980: original images provided by T Arbogast.

THE DUMB MACHINE

5.00 mm

5.00 mm 17.00 mm

15.00 mm

Fig 3.6. (left) female pupa; (1) and (2), cloven sterna forming copulatrix’s aperture

Fig 3.7. (left) wax moth female adult, (4) bifurcated proboscis, (5) labial palps projecting forward (beak-like appearance)

(right) male pupa, (3) a pair of small rounded knobs representing the phallomeres

Interspecies Knot

(right) wax moth male adult, (6) curved and inwardly hooked labial palps (snub-nose appearance)

7.2 - 18.8 days

8.2 days

6.9 days

32.9 days

10.2 days

100

90 80

70 60

50 70

40 30 20

60 0

Fig 3.8. Survival rate of 100 waxworms over 28 day period. First generation of waxworms feeding on waxcomb (WC), a mixture of Polyethylene and waxcomb (PE-WC), or just Polyethylene (PE)

20 24

Fig 3.9. Survival rate of second generation of 100 waxworms over 36 day period while feeding on just Polyethylene (PE/2), or a mixture of Polyethylene and waxcomb (PE-WC/2)

THE DUMB MACHINE

100

15 40 10 20

time (days)

5 0 500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

Fig 3.10. FTIR spectra of control and frass samples for wax worms which were co-fed PE-WC, indicates that polyethylene has indeed biodegraded.

Interspecies Knot

PE-WC

PE/2

PE-WC/2

Fig 3.11. Graph indicating that the second generation wax worms feed PE-WC, has a much better survivability rate compared to that of waxworms only fed PE.

part four

PAYING ATTENTION

ll b

da tio n

00 0)

(y ea r4 50 )

eg ra d

bi od

io d

so ft tis su e fu lly se d

di es

co m

hu m

en ce

lt hu m

ad u

ad ol es c

20 )

ar 8

(y e

ar 4

(y e

fu ll

)

tio

fis

)

tio

ot h

rv a

)

tip

lie

tip

)

10 0

)

vi si o

lie

tip

ct er

8 decades a

0 rv

8 years rv

0 la

8 months

)

8 days

in fa nc to y (y dd e ch ler ar 1 ) ild ( ho yea r3 od ) (y ea r6 )

8 days

ea rly

cu p

8 hours

Fig 4.1 Life span of ‘us’ in multiples of 8

THE DUMB MACHINE

essay four

Too Machine-like to Recycle

As architects we put many hats on! Try and orchestrate a few things like walls and doors, and floors. We also draw things in order, sections and plans, separation of inside and outside. And we care for the material cycles; an act of self-perpetuation. When dealing with an ecological design, all of the sudden our attention is (or hopefully is) shifted to the realization that things drawn in plan and section are not just inanimate, but a marker representing living-being things. This is to say that we need to get the order of things right! I defer the explanation to Greg Keeffe. He explains that order is: “putting things in right synergy, and you get order. You can get a nice mouse when all the organs are in right place, or you can mix things and get minced meat – just shit.” This thesis examined five different strategies for situating the waxworms in different socio-cultural, and ecological placement before it landed on its sixth strategy as a park over the water. There were numerous reasons why I had to convince myself why each was not good enough for the worms, or humans! The most outstanding reason is perfectly embodied in the 1936 movie, ‘Modern Times’ (which coincidentally is the year that the first plastic cup was manufactured in the U.S.) In one scene, Chaplin is selected to take part in testing the first feeding machine: An automated helper that can cut, rotate, fork, lift and feed bite-sized food to him. The moral of the story here is that through automation and by removing our human agency, and by giving it square to the machine, we may not be setting the best example of behavior for humans! Paying Attention

Fig 4.2. Charlie Chaplin in ‘Modern Times’, the feeding machine, 1936

WAXCOMB

PE PLASTIC BAG

PLASTIC GRANULATOR

PE + WAX

BIODEGRADER

GLYCOL

Fig 4.3. PE is granulated and mixed to feed to waxworms

By developing a series of spatial interventions to biodegrade plastic, this thesis first examined where to house these little guys. In this first iteration, The Dumb Box no.1 is designed to simply house waxworms in an enclosure with some plastic and beewax, and some egg carton for them to lay their eggs. This 8 cubic foot space is tailored to comfortably house 8,250 waxworms. 46

THE DUMB MACHINE

Fig 4.4. Dumb Box No.1 8 cubic feet of space to house 8,250 waxworms

Paying Attention

Def’n. granulator a piece of machinery to shreds the input into small particles.

WAXCOMB

PE PLASTIC BAG

PLASTIC GRANULATOR

HEAT MOLDING

PE + WAX PLATES

PE + WAX

BIODEGRADER

Fig 4.5. Integrated in the household, Dumb Box no.2 feeds PE + wax plates to the worms

GLYCOL

The Dumb Box no.2 questions whether it is feasible to house and integrate waxworms in the domestic setting, mediating a sense of agency and responsibility to the household. After all, it may not be bad idea to start the biodegradation process at home. Maybe we can opt into producing PE + wax dishware that can be directly fed to the waxworms. The question remains: can we trust the average person with the lives of living-beings when we can barely take care of our own plants? 48

THE DUMB MACHINE

Fig 4.6. Dumb Box No.2 The household participates directly in the biodegradation of PE.

Paying Attention

PE PLASTIC BAG

BUILT-IN GRANULATOR + WAX POWDER

BIODEGRADER

GLYCOL

Fig 4.7. Built-in granulator for public use

The Dumb Box no.3 questioned whether we should be celebrating the biodegrader in a public setting, engaging with sidewalks and the street. A built-in PE granulator can start to automate the shredding process! And our trained sanitary staff are the only ones taking care of the waxworms. Can these boxes be placed as nodes around the city? How many we might need? 50

THE DUMB MACHINE

Fig 4.8. Dumb Box No.3 The street and urban setting engages in biodegradation of PE.

Paying Attention

WAXCOMB

PE (LDPE,HDPE)

WAX + PE GRANULATOR

PE + WAX

ALL OTHER PLASTIC

PLASTIC SORTATION

PLASTIC BUILDING BLOCKS

BIODEGRADER

Fig 4.9. What about the 70% non-PE. Can we use them as building blocks?

The Dumb Box no.4 considers the average town as its site, and helps its people with their new plastic problem in their new recycling facility. This provocation deals with all plastics. It proposes a city block maximized with waxworm boxes that will take care of the 30% PE waste, and considers building its facility using the rest of the 70% of plastic that waxworms do not eat. Nonetheless, it appeases to every aspect of capitalism and free labor! Waxworm do our dirty work while we go unaffected! 52

THE DUMB MACHINE

Def’n. average town in america, any town whose population does not exceed more than 6,000 occupants.

Fig 4.10. Dumb Box No.4 The town participates in biodegradation of PE through its new recycling facility.

Paying Attention

WAXCOMB

PE PLASTIC BAG

PLASTIC GRANULATOR

PE + WAX

BIODEGRADER

Fig 4.11. A hive-like biodegrader, a hive-like social gathering around plastic.

The Dumb Box no. 5 marks the first time, that the thesis is beginning to see things from the waxworm’s point of view. Integrating bees and flowers into the mix, and possibly emulating a hive where the waxworms are happy, and people are happy taking care of them! Growing flowers for bees to come… A social engagement around plastic biodegradation that would open itself up to the public. One that would create an ecosystem for every being involved. 54

THE DUMB MACHINE

glass

PE + WAX

glass

PE + WAX

non-edible plastic

RADER

As I honed in on the occupants, about who is involved and what type of plastic are we talking about here, I wondered about the long lifespan of plastic breaking down, which averages between 500 to 1000 years. Our first plastic cup produced in 1936 is still here probably in the ocean breaking down for another 900 years!

Fig 4.12. Dumb Box No.5 How do the waxworms benefit?

Yes, we are truly getting better at recycling, but our current recycling facilities mostly deal with waste in land, and recycle things that are being made available to them on land; while everything that seeps through the cracks of our recycling system – including those which have made it to the landfills – will eventually breakdown into microplastics and head straight towards our oceans. Paying Attention

part five

FEEDING BY UPENDING

Fig 5.1. Moses and the Israelites unable to cross the Red Sea (of plastics) 58

THE DUMB MACHINE

essay five

The Problem of 10 Commandments

As we set the stage to get the order of things right, I considered the heroic story of Moses thousands of years ago! What a truly remarkable event it must have been to witness a slave enlightened and determined to save its people! To bring fairness into their lives and help them thrive! Staying true to his principles and never deflecting under the pressure of Ramses, the king of kings! This reminded me of the very fundamental question that I had to reconcile while trying to manage the relationship of things in a multi species ecological system, and being aware of the pressures of our capitalist society. Polyethylene’s value is rough a two-billion-dollar market share, backed by some of the most powerful agencies and corporations in the world. We are constantly reminded that for every idea to work, it must become profitable, or the pressures of the capitalism will crush it with its claws. Isn’t it then just a bad idea to biodegrade polyethylene, turning this great money-maker into something with a lower value, like glycol? And shouldn’t I be designing a five-star rated recycling facility for the city that is larger than the city itself, because the rate of biodegradation of PE with waxworms is so slow? Larger means more worms at work, and isn’t that better for the business? Then I am reminded that Moses did not seem to have buckled under the pressure of the kingdom! He never pandered to the will of the Ramses! He stood up square, as he commanded the Red Sea to open crossing it with the very people that he was committed to save. I am reminded that plastic is choking up the earth, and we should not be using them anymore! No matter how easy, cheap, or available it may be! We are here to set an example for our posterity, never wavering around the very problems that has gotten us here in the first place! Oceans are over-fished and, by 2050 they will be saturated with more plastic waste than all the fish combined! I am again reminded that, what would happen to Moses if the entire story were to take place ‘now’! Will they have to climb over a seabed of plastic waste, broken fridges, sofas, car parts, trash bags and dead animals to claim their freedom? Feeding by Upending

Fig 5.2. Aerial view of Yangtze River’s throat

Rivers naturally flow towards the ocean! Along their path, they pick things up finally depositing them back into the ocean’s ecosystem as sediments, and nutrients which help form the aquatic life along shores. Once came from the depth the earth’s belly beneath the ocean, now makes its way back in the water as pieces of harmful plastic! A handful of major rivers around the world contribute to roughly 90% of all plastic deposit into our oceans and hurt its vital ecosystem! Though almost all rivers in the list are located in the areas of our world which are still developing, oceans tie ‘us’ together! 60

THE DUMB MACHINE

This thesis hypothesized how to stop and slow down the rate of this flow from entering the oceans! Even if we successfully slow the current flow of plastics, what’s already out there now, will continue to breakdown into smaller and smaller pieces because of plastic exposure to the waves, and salt! This cycle will continue for decades! The plastic almost never goes away. It will only get smaller turning into what is known as ’microplastics.’ The spirit of the thesis deals with mundane ways to filter microplastics, and other size polyethylene out of the water flow to cofeed the waxworms. Feeding by Upending

Fig 5.3. Aerial view of Yangtze River’s throat cleanup proposal

Fig 5.4. Studies of hair movement on shower tub

THE DUMB MACHINE

Feeding by Upending

Fig 5.5. Conceptual drawings of a hair-like super-organism interacting with water, shore and plastics

THE DUMB MACHINE

Feeding by Upending

Fig 5.6. Translation of curved-like entangled elements as typology

THE DUMB MACHINE

Feeding by Upending

BUNCHING

GROWING

BRANCHING

Fig 5.7. Elemental operative language of curvatures

THE DUMB MACHINE

PUSHING

Feeding by Upending

PULLING

PEELING

Fig 5.8. Overall site model 70

THE DUMB MACHINE

essay six

Micro...whut?? I became fascinated with ways, new ways to catch microplastics out of the flow of our rivers. Microplastic is referred to any piece of plastic that less than 5mm in diameter and/or smaller, often than not, much smaller! They are organic polymers very toxic to aquatic life and they are ingested by every fish and creature that lives in water. Since to this day we have not been able to successfully devise a safe way of separating microplastics from our waters, I became fascinated by flow of ‘hair’ on shower tub! The main provocation of thesis is that, in the near future, it would be possible to insert a pneumatic system in the rivers to filter microplastics! One that flows similar to hair! Feeding by Upending

THE DUMB MACHINE

Long Island Sounds

I chose home, state of New York and considered possible sites for such an intervention. I studied 9 inlets along the coast of Long Island which directly opened up to the ocean, and 1 site in New York City along the East River. The idea is that different facilities could be proposed in each and every site if there is enough flow if microplastics. The 9 suburban inlets along the coast of Long Islands mainly deal with the shoreline! Rough and volatile sandy beaches, and direct access to the oceans! These inlets are homes to the second largest fishing fleet in the entire state of New York and are protected by countless rules to help regulate a cleaner water for the aquatic life. As we make our way West, from the tip of the Long Island towards Manhattan, where the dense population of people reside, the amount of pollutants in the water also increases. As you can guess, along the East River has the most concentrated amount of microplastics in all state of New York known as the “floating filth”, and compared with the Long Island inlets, there also is an urban setting that an interspecies collaboration would want to engage with! The tricky part about the microplastics is that even once successfully they are filtered and separated out of the water, they are so small, that no advance fancy sorting system is equipped to tell them apart! Guess this is why we need the waxworms! Because they are able to differentiate and only choose to eat the polyethylene particles! Feeding by Upending

Fig 5.9. Potential sites for engagement in the state of NY

Sample sizes 14.9

38.4

46.7

1mm < 4.749mm 0.333mm < 0.999mm > 4.75mm

Fig 5.10. Approximately 58% of the plastics within a sample taken from the East River, NYC were smaller than 1mm. This sample represents the highest particle count/km2 at 556,484.

The project’s immediate site located along the East River, is on northeast corner of Randalls and Wards Islands! The park is flat baseball fields, neatly organized in groups of four, with pathways in between and a service road wrapping the fields. On the south is the Randalls wastewater treatment plant, and across East River is the CONED electrical plant. Around the island, Harlem River flows south, but East River is an estuary which flows both ways. The project is placed to interact with the flow of water from both directions maximizing its exposure to microplastics. 74

THE DUMB MACHINE

Ave nue Bri dge

Bri dge Ken ned y Ro ber

vat ed

Spa n

Ele

ift

Ra ilw ay

t F.

er Riv Riv er L

Wi lis

rlem Ha Ha rlem

ive r

Kil l

Ea st R

Bro nx

c b

H ell

ive r

ber Ro

Ea st R

Ga te Br id

t F. edy nn Ke ge

d Bri

Fig 5.11. Immediate site on Randalls and Wards Islands a. Park / Sport Fields b. Wastewater Treatment Plant c. Con Edison Electrical Plant

Feeding by Upending

rlem Ha er Riv ive r

Kil l

Ea st R

ive r

Ea st R

Bro nx

Fig 5.12. Flow of East-River estuary

depth in m 0 5 20 50 150

THE DUMB MACHINE

Fig 5.13. Proposed site plan along East-River

Feeding by Upending

human

plants pupa bee

egg

flowers microplastics

nectar/pollen

macroplastics / debris des

bee wax

wax worm

pupa

egg ad ad

biodegraded PE

e ran mb

organic/living materials

aquaculture / fish

reject to water compost upcycle / downcycle

ﬁsh po

r he

debris

non-PE

S, M, L non-PE

S, M, L PE

ers eo

optics sorting

rev

lbs

lig

ator

granul

tif

ﬁltr

atio

plastic + wax

convey

wax moth

or be

ate

alin

honey

fruits/vegetables

aquaponics / plants

polyethylene glycol

Fig 5.14. Interconnectivity of the constituents 78

THE DUMB MACHINE

essay seven

❤

‘Floating Filth’

The most vital part of this thesis deals with the interconnectivity of the constituents! For this thesis an ecological closed-loop is the necessary means to mediate relationships between the involved species. It recognizes that before orchestrating a circular economy of resources, it must address the well-being of its constituents. It approaches other species not as laboratory instruments or variables, but as full beings that either thrive or suffer when they encounter plastic. Plastic biodegradation binds us together: wax moths, honeybees, plants, fish, and humans. How can every species in this loop benefit, not just the human? How can architecture devise this multi species collaboration in response to an especially human-derived problem like plastic, becomes the main question that this thesis addresses. This diagram is indicative of all the processes necessary, all species necessary, and all the steps necessary if we are serious about the radical provocation of collaborating with each other, making a dumb machine to eat our plastics away! A major part of my thesis unpacks this engagement between the species. Recycling is hard as is. Making visible what it looks like to get help from others species demonstrates how especially difficult it is to recycle. Combining livingbeing things with trash and sanitation not only poses major ecological questions – who benefits? – But also demonstrates that it takes a very long time to biodegrade plastic using waxworms. (Because the rate of biodegradation is so low). And that is the reality of trying to be biodegrading things, as opposed to not – as opposed to just hope for recycling and waiting a 1000 years, while ‘we’ suffer! The thesis proposal is there to demonstrate these problems and in turn, help educate the visitors, the workers, the constituents. To help understand why we should take a different position about our use of plastic. This project is as much a PE biodegrader as it is an educational facility in a public park. An amenity that uses ecological systems to biodegrade PE, to recycle non-PE, to preserve aquaculture. To filter water, to grow food for the constituents, and most importantly, to help change human’s behavior and attitude towards plastic. Feeding by Upending

Fig 5.15. pneumatic hair-like system that captures microplastics 80

THE DUMB MACHINE

SUCTION

WATER REJECT

The pneumatic hair-like system that filters microplastics out of the body of water, is modeled after the mighty whale-shark, and its food filter! This incredible animal – which is unfortunately listed as an endangered species – is the embodiment of what a perfect microplastic filter would look like! The pneumatic hair system is made up of series of sieve-like filters, and an inner core to suction the mixture of water and microplastics in! The linear nature of this system takes advantage of water buoyancy to float in and above the riverbed, ensuring that it is exposed to different size particles of microplastic. Using Bernoulli’s law of fluid dynamics, the particles travel from a higher pressure to lower as the water is rejected outward, capturing only the microplastics. Simple physics and an incredible natural organism like the whale-shark are probably all we need to make a nifty microplastic catcher! The particles then travel from the pneumatic system onto to a series of conveyor belts where they are desalinated, dried and made ready to be given to the waxworms! Feeding by Upending

MICROPLASTIC CAPTURE

Fig 5.16.(top) View of what the fish sees under the water Fig 5.17.(middle) Diagram of the pneumatic system Fig 5.18.(bottom) Diagram of the Whaleshark’s food filter

Fig 5.19. Model photo of pneumatic system as seen above the East-River 82

THE DUMB MACHINE

Fig 5.20. Model photo of pneumatic system as seen from the elevated freight train on the west Feeding by Upending

Fig 5.21. Tesla valves and conveyor belts branching to capture the large, medium and small plastics 84

THE DUMB MACHINE

Three teardrop shaped islands, modeled based on the design of a tesla valve, direct the flow of water. Tesla valve is a rudimentary but brilliant play of geometry with no moving parts. Because of this geometry, water inherently flows over and onto itself, allowing different sizes of plastic to get caught in series of trawling nets. Biasing the entry and exit channel dimensions ensures a natural slowed-down flow of water from EastRiver to Bronx Kill. Then, a series of conveyor belts sitting over the tesla valves collect every debris, small, medium, and large plastics for optics sorting and desalination. What is not PE is rejected and collected to get shipped out of the site for further recycling via cargo ships. The facility is made open for the public to view. It allows visitors to take notice of the plastics operation, and collection. PE is collected in one large granulator building to get shredded and combined with microplastics captured in the pneumatic system, and made ready to get sent to our beloved waxworms. Feeding by Upending

Fig 5.22.(top) View of what the visitors see walking along the park Fig 5.23.(middle) Section through the Tesla valves, and the granulator building Fig 5.24.(bottom) Diagram of the Tesla valve bi-directional flow

Fig 5.25. Model photo of tesla valves, optics sortation and desalination process as seen by a bird 86

THE DUMB MACHINE

Fig 5.26. Model photo of the plastics capture component in the park Feeding by Upending

Fig 5.27. Waxworm enclosures 88

THE DUMB MACHINE

Here, the pneumatic system reveals itself as a handrail that carries the plastic feed into the waxworm boxes. Workers and caretakers mix wax with plastics into the feed. The worms will choose for themselves, eating PE and leaving the rest out. What is left uneaten is then flushed into a water chamber. Biodegraded PE and other microplastics get separated through a series of sieves, while the worm poop gets solved in the water. Water is flushed into a Reverse Osmosis second filtering system (RO) to get separated and, glycol is stored in tanks for use. The left-over plastics and microplastics go below grade onto a conveyor belt to get shipped out for further recycling. Waxworms are safely enclosed and temperatures controlled! They make for a fascinating experience and a relaxing scene to watch! The visitors are allowed to get to a very close proximity of the worm boxes, and get to hang out with them. Over the roof of the peeled-up waxworm enclosures, the bees live in and around the elevated landscapes enjoying the flowers, and open air. Feeding by Upending

Fig 5.28.(top) View of what the waxworms see Fig 5.29.(bottom) Model photo of the green roofs over the waxworm enclosures

a. Wax + plastic feed

b. Shaking mechanism lets moth fly upward to mate and lay eggs

c. Moths will mate and lay eggs d. Eggs hatch / new worms e. Dead moth/worm gets collected in series of sieves

THE DUMB MACHINE

f. Biodegraded PE, non-PE and worm poop (glycol) is released into a water chamber

g. Series of filters separates the rest of non-PE plastic onto a conveyor belt to recycle

h. Along the building envelope, RO water and fish poop is pupmed for aquaponics’ use

h. Reverse osmosis system separates glycol from water

Fig 5.30.(top) six-step process of biodegradation using waxworm Fig 5.31.(bottom) Section through the waxworm enclosure within the park

Feeding by Upending

Fig 5.31. Model photo of elevated landscapes with the park 92

THE DUMB MACHINE

Feeding by Upending

Fig 5.32 Reverse Osmosis system wrapped around the waxworm enclosures 94

THE DUMB MACHINE

The project is a series of elevated landscape and paths ways that wraps around the baseball fields. It connects back to the existing park and extends over the water as piers! To enhance the feeling of being part of this biodegrader, the park creates winding paths of green walls which are in fact nested over the reverse osmosis system second water filter. This system is commonly used to separate the last bit of glycol from the flushed water. A series of pipes also connect the bypass water from the fish pools which is saturated with nutrients of fish poop! Full of hydrogen, this water is then allocated over the reverse osmosis trellis-like structure to grow plants, flowers, and food! Visitors and constituents from the community would take part in taking care of the plants. Feeding by Upending

Fig 5.33.(top) View of what the workers, and visitors see along the reverse osmosis green walls Fig 5.34.(bottom) Diagram of the reverse osmosis system

Fig 5.35. Model photo of reverse osmosis wrapped around the pathways 96

THE DUMB MACHINE

Fig 5.36. Model photo of bunching reverse osmosis system, elevated landscapes, and proximity to fish pools Feeding by Upending

Fig 5.37 Exploded axonometry of the park components 98

THE DUMB MACHINE

Conclusion

The very language of architecture herein is carefully curated of curves and loops showing the entanglement of a multi species co-habitat. Its proposal, a series of water ways, and hair-like pneumatic system to catch microplastics. Elevated landscapes for bees and flowers, enclosures for waxworms below, and pools for fish; a social engagement around plastic biodegradation that opens itself up to the public, nested in a New York city’s baseball park. A positive outlook into a better future for everyone involved! This is what this thesis aspires to become. To me, it was very important to show our entanglement, not because it is a great story to have involved other species in our plastic problems, or because this would make a provocative architecture for us humans to see and realize that we too, can become better! The Dumb Machine is far less than that! Factories once stood upright, posing ever-so-strongly, flexing about our biggest accomplishments! They were manifestations of the brave new world, of technological advancements, of newly materialized sciences, and of course human endeavors! But underneath the gaudy and seemingly simple play of platonic geometry of their accomplishments, there lied the tear of the marginalized, the bruised and beaten factory worker, the killed small business, the smeared-up in oil brothers and sisters, parents and beings voiceless, and forgotten! We as architects took part in that! Feeding by Upending

Fig 5.38. View of the honey bees see over the landscapes

100

THE DUMB MACHINE

Fig 5.39. Longitudinal section through the park

Feeding by Upending

101

We designed with the machine aesthetic in mind, with the most efficient of all! The damn broken burnt-down factories will last, but we don’t! People go forgotten because we rot! Animals go forgotten because there is “not nearly enough indigestion about their suffering,” despite us knowing about them. The factory did not stand for its people, it stood up for the cement industry, and for the plastic industry, and for the big money! Most heartbreakingly, the factory did not stand for the bird! It killed the bird and everything the bird considered vital to life and longevity! The Dumb Machine is far less than this! The dumb machine does not want to exist! It did not need to exist one hundred years ago! But it has to exist! It is dumb to know that we need to deploy some of our best science and material designs, engineering, biology, ecology and put forth a proposal to get help from other poor species. All in all, so we can clean up our human-derived plastic waste! An entire infrastructure, and slew of being involved so that we can cleanup our act! In conclusion, I want to share this very initial poster that I made about what I thought a project for getting help from waxworms might look like. The worm is drawn helping and devouring massive amounts of plastic! It is one big worm, just working its way through the garbage, like an agent for good! I share this, because over the past few months of really delving into the animal welfare and perception, I realized that even I begin thinking about natural processes in a very utilitarian way – as most of us would do, and as we are trained to do! We often start an architectural design process by looking at the boundary of things, because we like to dimension them! And the dimension-string means that we can put a bounding-box around things and assume that to be the space. Nature does not quite work like that! A tree is more than its planar 20-foot-diameter circle, and its sectional 20-foot offset all around. A tree starts its ‘presencing’ deep from within its roots underground! It grows to become the organism that it is! The tree does not make an invisible box and then fill it with leaves and branches, but it is those branches that are carefully grown and curated to protect it, to bring nourishments from the sun back to its core! This is why the tree becomes so attractive and suitable for bugs, worms, mushrooms and birds. And I share this poster, because somewhere along the process of design it is good to realize that waxworms are not factory workers, or heroes! They are animals, and we need to treat them with respect while getting a helping hand from them. I am thankful that I came across these little guys, and so thankful to those who helped me understand why it is important to see it from the waxworms’ point of view. We do not have a whole a lot of time before it is too late to undo the damage that us humans have caused. We need to start seeing from all living-beings’ point of view. Cheers! 102

THE DUMB MACHINE

Fig 5.40. Can we handle this?

Feeding by Upending

103

104

THE DUMB MACHINE

105

BIBLIOGRAPHY

107

BIBLIOGRAPHY 1

Animal architecture Arndt, Ingo, and Jürgen Tautz. Animal Architecture. English-language edition. New York, NY: Abrams, 2013.

Animal architecture Frisch, Karl von, and Otto von Frisch. Animal Architecture. [1St ed.]. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1974.

Animal architecture Hansell, Michael H. Animal Architecture. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.

Animal capital Shukin, Nicole. Animal Capital: Rendering Life in Biopolitical Times. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2009.

Animal rites Wolfe, Cary. Animal Rites: American Culture, the Discourse of Species, and Posthumanist Theory. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003.

Beyond sustainable Ludwig, Ryan. Beyond Sustainable: Architecture’s Evolving Environments of Habitation. New York, NY: Routledge, 2021.

Efficient biodegradation of polyethylene (HDPE) waste by the plasticeating lesser waxworm (Achroia grisella) undungal, H., Gangarapu, M., Sarangapani, S. et al. Efficient biodegradation of polyethylene (HDPE) waste by the plastic-eating lesser waxworm (Achroia grisella). Environ Sci Pollut Res 26, 18509–18519 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-05038-9

External morphology of the larva, pupa, and adult of the wax moth, galleria mellonella L. Smith, T. L. “External Morphology of the Larva, Pupa, and Adult of the Wax Moth, Galleria Mellonella L.” Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 38, no. 3 (1965): 287–310. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25083456.

Fish mouths as engineering structures for vortical cross-step filtration Sanderson, S., Roberts, E., Lineburg, J. et al. Fish mouths as engineering structures for vortical cross-step filtration. Nat Commun 7, 11092 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms11092

From moths to caterpillars: Ideal conditions for Galleria mellonella rearing for in vivo microbiological studies Adeline L. Jorjão, Luciane D. Oliveira, Liliana Scorzoni, Lívia Mara A. Figueiredo-Godoi, Marcia Cristina A. Prata, Antonio Olavo C. Jorge & Juliana C. Junqueira (2018) From moths to caterpillars: Ideal conditions for Galleria mellonella rearing for in vivo microbiological studies, Virulence, 9:1, 383-389, DOI:10.1080/21505594.2017.1397871

NY-NJ harbor estuary plastic collection report Baykeepers, accessed Sep 29, 2021, https://cues.rutgers.edu/ microplastic/pdfs/BaykeeperMicroplasticsReport_1-22-16.pdf 108

THE DUMB MACHINE

Species of mind Allen, Colin, and Marc Bekoff. Species of Mind: the Philosophy and Biology of Cognitive Ethology. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1997.

Standard methods for wax moth research Ellis, J D; Graham, J R; Mortensen, A (2013) Standard methods for wax moth research. In V Dietemann; J D Ellis; P Neumann (Eds) The Coloss Beebook, Volume II: standard methods for Apis mellifera pest and pathogen research. Journal of Apicultural Research 52(1): http://dx.doi. org/10.3896/IBRA.1.52.1.10 . The architecture of remediation: riverbank park Mogilevich, Mariana, PRAXIS: Journal of Writing + Building, no. 13 (2011): 18–25. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24329272.

The architecture of waste O’Donnell, Caroline, and Dillon Pranger, eds. The Architecture of Waste: Design for a Circular Economy. Abingdon: Routledge, 2021. https://www. taylorfrancis.com/books/9780367247478.

The biology and control of the greater wax moth, galleria mellonella Kwadha, Charles A., George O. Ong’amo, Paul N. Ndegwa, Suresh K. Raina, and Ayuka T. Fombong. 2017. “The Biology and Control of the Greater Wax Moth, Galleria mellonella” Insects 8, no. 2: 61. https://doi. org/10.3390/insects8020061

The companion species manifesto Haraway, Donna Jeanne. The Companion Species Manifesto: Dogs, People, and Significant Otherness. Chicago: Prickly Paradigm Press, 2003.

The greater wax moth galleria mellonella: biology and use in immune studies Iwona Wojda, Bernard Staniec, Michał Sułek, Jakub Kordaczuk, The greater wax moth Galleria mellonella: biology and use in immune studies, Pathogens and Disease, Volume 78, Issue 9, December 2020, ftaa057, https://doi.org/10.1093/femspd/ftaa057

The origin of feces Waltner-Toews, David. The Origin of Feces: What Excrement Tells Us about Evolution, Ecology, and a Sustainable Society. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: ECW Press, 2013.

When species meet Haraway, Donna Jeanne. When Species Meet. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2008.

Zoontologies Wolfe, Cary. Zoontologies: the Question of the Animal. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2003.

Bibliography

109

Not the torturer will scare me Nor the body’s final fall Nor the barrels of death’s rifles Nor the shadows on the wall Nor the night when to the ground The last dim star of pain, is hurled But the blind indifference Of a merciless, unfeeling world

As taken from ‘Each Small Candle’ - Roger Waters

THE DUMB MACHINE by

Freddo Daneshvaran advisors: Caroline O’Donnell Curt Gambetta

Ithaca, New York, United States, M.Arch. December 2021 @fd265