Towards A New 'Circular' Architecture

TOWARDS A NEW ‘CIRCULAR’ ARCHITECTURE

From a Wasteful to a Wasteless Community; Making Waste(full) Useful Again.

by Low Beng Wee, Gavin

Design Journal By Low Beng Wee, Gavin

Thesis Supervisor Professor Richard Ho Kong Fatt

Submitted to Department of Architecture National University of Singapore

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Towards a New Circular Architecture

Abstract Abstract

In cities, waste is being generated in massive amount as we continue to celebrate and indulge in a resource-intensive, consumerist culture. Rapid global population growth and the rise of mega cities around the world will only exacerbate this problem. At the rate cities are consuming today, material consumption by cities will outgrow what the planet can provide. It will require an equivalent of 1.6 earths to continue to meet the cities’ resource needs and to absorb its waste. The paper has chosen Singapore as a point of study on this issue. While the issue of resource and waste is especially pertinent to Singapore, the city-state has remained relatively unconcern about its vicious resource-to-waste conversion cycle. Notably, the detrimental impacts of waste generated has remained largely unfelt as it is obscured from the public’s line-ofsight. The paper identified six main issues surrounding the unsustainable urbanisation of cities: linear material flow and large untapped waste streams, cities conceived as fixed objects, top down and paternalistic approaches, infrastructure gap impeding ground up groups, actors operating in their respective silos and the movement of materials and recyclables. It is imperative for cities, like Singapore, to move towards a circular economy and harness on its citizens and the potential of bottom-up approaches so that it can find agency in making a change.

The thesis proposes that it is by developing on existing public food & beverage nodes into a multi-layered local recycling network: neighbourhood, district, national and transnational, and employing the concepts of designing for disassembly that the vision of circular economy and promise of zero waste can be achieved.

Keywords

Waste, Cities, Circular Economy, Citizens, Nudge

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Towards a New Circular Architecture

Contents Part I: Research & Analysis

9

1.1

Introduction

11

1.2

Background & Issues

17

1.3

Thesis Vision & Strategy

35

1.4

Research Conclusion

55

Part II: Architectural Design Proposal - Circular Commons

59

2.1

Design Strategy

61

2.2

Site Response

65

2.3

User Experience

71

2.4

User Design Options

91

2.5

Open Source: Kit of Parts

95

2.6

Waste Beacons: A Public Driven Nudge

109

2.7 Repurposing Obsolete Structure

123

Thesis Conclusion

131

Bibliography

135

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Towards a New Circular Architecture

Part I Research & Analysis

9

Towards a New Circular Architecture

1.1 Introduction

11

Fig 1.a

Fig 1.b

Towards a New Circular Architecture

1.1 Problem Statement

Introduction [Fig 1.a] Cities in the pursuit of economic growth, are celebrating and indulging in a resource-intensive and consumerist culture. It was highlighted by United Nation Environment Program that cities, while it only occupies 3 percent of the world’s surface, is generating half of the global waste. It also consumes 75% of its resources and contribute to 50-80% of the global carbon emission1.

A study by the United Nations Environment Program2, had showed that material consumption by cities will outgrow what the planet can provide, increasing from 40 billion tonnes in 2010 to 90 billion tonnes by 2050. At the rate cities consumes today, it would require an equivalent of 1.6 earths to continue to meet the city’s resource needs and to absorb its waste.

[Fig 1.b] The issue of cities wrestling with waste and resource management will only be exacerbated by the trend of the growing affluence in cities, rapid urbanisation and global population growth. Rapid urbanisation is resulting in the emergence of megacities. In 1990, the world has 10 megacities. This number will grow to 43 by 2030 with a population of at least 10 million in each3.

Amount of waste generated in cities will continue to rise with the population and economic growth in cities4.

Amount of natural resource necessary will also increase with global building stocks expected to double by 2060 to accommodate the world’s projected population of 10 billion5. Hence it is important that cities look at how it deals with its own waste and reduce its resource consumption in a shift toward a more sustainable development – that consumes less resource and generates less waste.

The paper aims to investigates the problem cities have with waste and resource management and to explore how cities can find agency in impacting climate change by achieving zero waste and to minimise resource consumption. The thesis chose Singapore as a point of investigation.

Thesis Question

How do cities find agency in moving towards a more environmentally sustainable urbanisation that balances 13

both economic growth and environmental protection?

Thesis Hypothesis

To achieve the vision of zero waste and to minimise resource consumption, cities must adopt a circular economy.

Furthermore, it is by exploring an alternative to a technocratic and top-down approach, that cities can make the vision a reality.

Towards a New Circular Architecture

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Towards a New Circular Architecture

1.2 Background & Issues

17

Linear Flow

Cyclical Flow

Fig 2.1.a

Fig 2.1.b Towards a New Circular Architecture

1.2

Background & Issues The thesis took Singapore city as a point of investigation.

In this section, it discusses some background and contextual issues concerning waste and consumption pattern in Singapore city.

1.2.1

Linear Material Flow and Large Untapped Waste Streams [Fig 2.1.a] Resources in cities currently flow in a linear fashion – that is, resources that enters the city ends up as waste in the landfill. This is especially pertinent to a city like Singapore that lacks natural resources and land space. Premising on the ideas of Cradle-to-Cradle (C2C), it is necessary that cities explores how materials could flow in a cyclical manner to maximise resource efficiency and ensuring zero waste.

[Fig 2.1.b] Large unrecycled waste stream presents as a huge resource to be tapped on. By finding ways to recycle waste, cities could cut down on their waste output and reduce the need to mine virgin raw materials. Without tackling this large unrecycled waste, it is hard to see Singapore making a significant improvement to its issue with waste.

Conventional building materials such as concrete, steel and glass not only exhaust the world’s finite resources but also contributes to large amount of carbon emissions.

The building industry today contributes to 40% of the global carbon emissions, it is necessary for cities to explore an alternative building material. By using recomposite materials made using recomposite materials, it significantly reduce the greenhouse gas emitted in the construction of the building by up to 90%.

[Fig 2.1.c - f] With the advent of the innovation in technologies, these waste streams showed potential to be converted into materials to construct our built environment. Examples include, Eco-Ark showing how plastic waste could be processed into a building face, SDTI E-waste Recycling Plant demonstrated how e-waste can be used to construct a roof canopy, a row 19

of house in Columbia (Conceptos Plasticos) have showed how plastics waste can be reconstituted into building structures and lastly, in the example of the Berlin Office

by Miniwiz, it has demonstrated how food waste can be used to construct the building’s wall. Aligning with Singapore’s Zero Waste Masterplan 2030, the paper focuses on Food, Plastic and E-waste.

Food Food waste is the second largest unrecycled waste streams in Singapore. In 2018, 763 million kilograms of food waste was generated – that’s equivalent to 54,000 double decker buses. Food also makes up half of the average 1.5 kilograms of waste disposed of by each household daily6. The key challenge to recycling food waste remains to be the high cost of sorting food from other types of waste. To help solve this, it is necessary that food waste is sorted at the source.

Food waste in Singapore are commonly being treated and process into compost that can be used for agriculture purposes. In NUS Raffles Hall and Tuas Nexus food waste is processed through anaerobic digestion to produce energy. Architecturally, food waste also showed potential to be transformed into building materials. This is demonstrated by Miniwiz with Polli-ber. Food waste is first dried and milled into powder, then through a chemical process broken down into basic chemical components such as cellulose, sugars, fibres and lignin. Thereafter, a binding polymer is added to form the recomposite material. The material is then used to make modular bricks which connects via groove engineering, without the use of mortar.

Plastic Plastic is the largest unrecycled waste stream in Singapore. According to the date by Ministry of Environment and Water Resource, only 4% of plastic waste is recycled. Plastic waste, especially plastic bottles and containers, are usually sorted, baled and exported overseas for recycling. There are also plastic recycling companies in Singapore that sort and process plastic waste into small pellets to be used as feedstock for making plastics products.

By recycling plastics, we reduce the environmental impacts associated with the production and disposal of plastics. The production of plastics requires significant quantities of non-renewable fossil fuels. It is estimated that 4% of the world’s annual oil production is used as a Towards a New Circular Architecture

feedstock for plastics production and an additional 3-4% during manufacture.

Plastics are non-biodegradable and takes hundreds of years to break down. When they are landfilled, they take up landfill space. When they are incinerated, they release carbon dioxide and potential toxic gases such as dioxins.

At the plastics recycling plant, plastic waste is sorted according to their type and colour manually, by optical sensors or by a flotation process. The sorted plastics are shredded, washed and then melted to produce strands of plastics. The strands are cut into small pellets, which are used as feedstock for making new plastics products.

Depending on the type of plastics, the recycled plastic pellets can be used to make a wide range of plastic products such as plastic bags, containers, trays, pipes, CD cases, garden furniture and even building materials.

This is demonstrated by a project done by Conceptos Plasticos in Columbia, whereby reconstituted materials made using plastic waste are used to construct the structural elements and the walls of a series of houses.

E-Waste While e-waste only makes up less than 1% of total waste generated in Singapore in 2018, it contains hazardous heavy metals such as mercury and cadmium which may be potentially harmful to human health and the environment if improperly disposed of. Disposing and incinerating e-waste results in the loss of resources and contribute to carbon emission. Furthermore, e-waste is also projected to be the fastest growing waste stream and is expected to rise with the growing affluence of cities and the constant stream of new technologies. Hence, it is necessary to promote proper recycling and treatment of e-waste.

E-waste is generally recycled in two steps. First, valuable resource such as the precious metals and glass are first extracted. Then, the rest of the component consisting mainly of polymers are dried and shredded, melted and broken down into polymers, then extruded into pellets to make new products In addition, to extend the lifespan of e-products, repairing of e-products should be promoted. It is through the act of repairing that it can combat the act of throw-away culture.

Repair Kopitiam, a community initiative in Singapore runs comprehensive courses to help communities adopt repair as a way of life.

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Plastic-Waste used to construct facade Case Study: Eco-Ark, Miniwiz

Fig 2.1.c

Food waste used to construct building wall Case Study: Berlin Office, Miniwiz

Fig 2.1.e Towards a New Circular Architecture

Plastic-Waste used to construct house structural and non-structural element Case Study: Houses in Columbia, Conceptos Plasticos

Fig 2.1.d

E-Waste used to construct roof canopy Case Study: SDTI E-Waste Recycling Plant, Miniwiz

Fig 2.1.f 23

Cities as Fixed Objects

Cities as Living Organism Layer

Life Span

Stuff

Daily

Space plan

3-30

Services

7-15

Structure

30-300

Skin

20

Site

Eternal

Top-down Approach National Recyling Program

10%

Bottom-up Approach Informal Recycling Sector

90%

Domestic Recycling in Singapore Source: Tan, Audrey. “National Recycling Effort Bags Only 2% of Domestic Waste.” The Straits Times, March 7, 2018.

Top-down Approaches

National

Incineration & Landfill

Fig 2.2

Integrated Waste Mgmt Facility

Domestic

Foreign Labour

National Recycling Program

Fig 2.3 Towards a New Circular Architecture

1.2.2

Cities are Conceived as Fixed Objects [Fig 2.2] Cities have been conceived as fixed and permanent structures although they are subjected to the ever-changing needs of its citizens and economic structure. Cities have a penchant for newness and expansion. For that reason, perfectly standing buildings are constantly being demolished, only for new ones to be erected. The architect Frank Duffy proposed a theory of Shearing Layers, a concept which was further developed and popularised by Stuart Brand. Essentially, the ideas is that a building is not a unary thing with a single life-cycle, but a composition of several layer comprising elements with different functions (site, structure, skin, services, space plan, and consumer items) and with different life-span based on their amenability to change.

It is necessary to rethink buildings in cities as living organisms whereby components can be added, subtracted or modified. Layers are designed to be disassembled for ease of maintenance, repair, recovery and reuse of components and materials.

This would extend the lifespan of both the building and material. Hence, minimising the waste generated from demolishing old buildings and the use of more resources to build new ones.

1.2.3

The Reliance on Top-down and Paternalistic Approaches [Fig 2.3] While the issue of waste is especially pertinent to Singapore, the city-state has remained relatively unconcern about its vicious resource-towaste conversion cycle. Notably, the detrimental impacts of waste generated has remained largely unfelt as it is obscured from the public’s line-of-sight – a result of Singapore’s top-down and paternalistic approaches to waste and resource management.

The use of technocentric approaches has allowed Singapore to contain possible spread of diseases and foul smell by reducing the contact between the citizens and waste. These are pertinent issues with waste especially in a highly dense and humid city like Singapore. However, the effectiveness on the containment of waste has also become the problem 25

to discouraging waste amongst its citizens - a conundrum to Singapore’s approach to waste. These approaches reduce the visibility to the city’s waste production and discourages responsibility from the consumers part. The approaches include incinerations & landfills, the use of foreign workers and the national recycling program.

The thesis sees the need to reinforce Singapore’s current approach to resource and waste management with bottom up methods that promotes libertarian paternalism.

Libertarian paternalism is the idea that it is both possible and legitimate for private and public institutions to affect behavior while also respecting freedom of choice, as well as the implementation of that idea. The term was coined by behavioural economist Richard Thaler and legal scholar Cass Sunstein in a 2003 article in the American Economic Review. This is to subvert the current believe that waste and resource management is the government’s sole responsibility. Furthermore, by doing so, it aims to promote stewardship amongst the citizens.

Incinerations & Landfills On the national level, Singapore solid waste management strategies could be traced back to 1970, when Lorong Halus Refuse dumping ground was first designated as a landfill site to accommodate the city-state’s waste.

It was in 1978, that Singapore commissioned its first incineration plant at Ulu Pandan. Incineration was viewed as an effective way to deal with solid waste since it could reduce the mass of waste by up to 90%, greatly reducing the strain on the landfill capacity. In 1999, due to environmental pollution concerns, frequent open fire, and complaints from residents, Singapore shifted its landfill site offshore – to Pulau Semakau.

While incineration is a quick and effective way for Singapore to deal with its waste it is not sustainable. At the current rate of consumption, Singapore will need a new incineration plant every 7-10 years. Building and operating an incineration plant is costly and takes up precious land space. In 2017, Singapore sent 40% of its waste to Waste-Energy plant to be incinerated. While incineration could help to generate electricity, it produces large amount of carbon and releases fine ash particles into the atmosphere as a by-product. It also begs the question, how much energy is converted through that process, when a larger amount of energy could have been spent making the material7.

Dependence on Foreign Workers

Towards a New Circular Architecture

Singapore relies heavily on an army of foreign labourers to manage our waste- from food court cleaners to neighbourhood waste collectors. While this is a highly effective and low-cost measure, this has greatly reduced the visibility of waste production amongst Singaporeans.

National Recycling Program On the domestic level, the National Recycling Program (NRP) – better known as the blue bin – only accounts for 2% of total domestic waste.

Under this program, users are expected to deposit unsorted recyclables into the blue bin. The unsorted recyclables are collected and then sent to a Materials Recovery Facilities (MRF) for sorting. The NRP only accounts for 2% of total domestic waste and of which 40% are contaminated and cannot be recycled.

While the NRP emphasises on efficiency and convenience for the users by not requiring them to sort their recyclables, it is resulting in the contamination of 40% of the recyclables collected8.

This is due to misperceptions by the users of what could be recycled. Many Singaporeans feels skeptical about the eventual fate of the recyclables and thinks that it would still end up being incinerated9. Furthermore, having to transport these ‘recyclables’ over a significant distance to be sorted and then transported again to be recycled only creates a larger ecological footprint and diminished the effects of recycling.

1.2.4

An Infrastructure Gap Impedes the Influence of Ground-up Organisations While top-down and technocentric approaches have allowed Singapore to achieve an overall 60% recycling rate. The domestic recycling rate in the nation-state has remain dismal, hovering at 20% for the past decade. For Singapore to achieve its vision of zero waste nation, it must explore an alternative to its current approach.

[Fig 2.3] A comparison between a top-down approach; the blue bin and a bottom-up approach; informal recycling sector might shed some light on an alternative approach – emphasis on bottom up and libertarian paternalism. In comparison with NRP, 27

Fig 2.4.a

Operating Individually Manufacturers

Designers

Public

Inability to collect and access to more recyclables

Lack of knowledge and opportunities to design for products to be recycled

Lack of knowledge, awareness and incentive to recycle

Collaborative Operation Designers

Manufacturers Public

Fig 2.5 Towards a New Circular Architecture

the informal recycling sector collected nine times more recyclables on the domestic level. The informal recycling sector includes the rag-and-bone man, the Residents’ Committee (RC) and green groups in Singapore. Synergies between the NRP and the bottom up approach must be exploited for Singapore to strengthen the effect of the latter. Through a bottom up approach that emphasises on libertarian paternalism, it could increase the consumer’s visibility of their waste production and at the same time encourage stewardship over the management of waste and resource consumption.

Rag-and-Bone Men (Karang Guni Men) The effectiveness of the rag-and-bone men are due to several reasons. Firstly, the high-touch approach of the rag-and-bone man ensures they reach most household10.

Secondly, due to their knowledge about what can and cannot be recycled helps household separates their waste and prevents possible contaminations. This can make a difference given that 60% of Singapore find it difficult to identify contaminants and non-recyclables11.

Lastly, the monetary benefit from selling their recyclables to the rag & bone man serves as an incentive to recycle – creating a behavioural nudge12.

Grass Root Groups and Recycling Contractors Once a month, the Residents’ Committee (RC) would arrange a recycling exchange organised with their respective distract waster contractors. Residents could exchange their recyclables at a recycling station for cash of food items. Examples includes, Colex has the Cash for Trash programme in the Jurong District and Veolia has a Recycling Exchange Initiative (REIT) in Pasir RisTampines, Bedok and Tanglin-Bukit Merah district.

Failure of a Bottom-Up Approach; Ground Up Initiative The failure of these ground-up initiative to have effect on a larger scale is evident in the domestic recycling rate that has stayed stagnant for the past decade. While the comparison of a top-down approach; the blue bin and a bottom-up approach; the informal sector showed promise – why does the domestic recycling rate not improve?

[Fig 2.4.a] Social movements have a life cycle: they are created, they grow, they achieve successes or failures and eventually, they dissolve and cease to exist. Premising on the development and theory of the model of the four stages of social movements13, it has identified four main stages of a social movement: Emergence, Coalesce, 29

Bureaucratise and Decline. Singapore’s ground-up initiatives have arguably remained on the stage of Coalesce, or the “popular stage,” is characterised by a more clearly defined sense of discontent. This is where the issue is most sensationalised. This is the stage at which the movement becomes more than just random upset individuals; at this point they are now organised and strategic in their outlook14.

This is when like-minded individuals gather, and social movement groups emerges. However, these ground-up initiatives have failed to proceed onto the next stage – Bureaucratisation. This stage, defined by Blumer as “formalization,” (De la Porta & Diani, 2006) is characterized by higher levels of organization and coalition-based strategies. Many social movements fail to bureaucratise in this way and end up fizzling out because it is difficult for members to sustain the emotional excitement necessary and because continued mobilization becomes too demanding for participants/ volunteers. This is where Singapore’s ground-up initiative fails to have a larger effect on domestic recycling. It lacks a formal structure: specialist to run day to day operation, stable manpower to carry out the function of the organisation, capital and the influence and support to formalise.

Case Study: A Recycling Society, Tokyo [Fig 2.4.b] Facing similar issues as Singapore, it saw the need to relook at how it manages its waste and resource consumption. In 2000, the Basic Act for Establishing a Sound Material-Cycle Society was enacted to set out the basic principles of a recycling-oriented society. It saw the government, the local communities and the industries coming together to take measures to improve the situation.

In order to establish stewardship amongst citizens and to have recycling programs rooted in local communities, recycling centres and recycling plazas was set up amongst the municipalities. One such example is the Machida Recycling Culture Centre.

Contamination of waste is a huge issue in recycling, as such, segregation at source becomes critical. It is also important that citizens are equip with the know how to know what can and what cannot be recycled. To achieve this, incentives was put in place not just for the waste industry, but more importantly to support ground-up initiatives for promoting sorted waste collection.

Towards a New Circular Architecture

These measures help create a sense of community to promote a collective action to recycle. It does not only raise the citizens awareness of the need to recycle, it also catalyses recycling activities rooted in the local community. Through the data collected, it records a decrease in resource consumption, a decrease in waste outputs and an improve recycling rate since 2000. Waste generation per person has dropped from 1185g/man-day in 2000, to 976g/man-day15.

1.2.5

Actors are Operating in their Individual Silos [Fig 2.5] In the issue of resource and waste management are three main groups of actors; the recycling manufacturers, the designers and the citizens. Due to how waste and resources are managed in a city, the actors operate in their individual silos without knowing the operations of the other group. This disconnect and lack of understanding creates obstacles for the respective groups to contribute to this issue. The recycling manufacturers faces the issue of not being able to collect more recyclables due to the improper recycling practices by the citizens.

The designers lack the knowledge and opportunities to design for products that could promote the recycling of the material or the product itself. Furthermore, the citizens lack the knowledge and awareness on proper recycling practices and are sceptical about whether the recyclables they placed in the blue bins do get recycled.

All these factors could have a significant influence on the low domestic recycling rate in Singapore.

It is paramount to explore a shared platform that brings together the three main groups of actors in this issue. This would create opportunities for a collaborative operation.

The recycling manufacturers, the designers and citizens each have a stake in this shared platform and could benefit from this. For the recycling manufacturers, the platform serves as an avenue to engage and educate citizens on proper recycling practices – this could in turn increase the collection of recyclables. For the designers, this provides the opportunity to work closely with the recycling manufacturers to understand the recycling process and to device new methods and materials that is more sustainable. For the citizens, that would not only stand to gain more knowledge and awareness on recycling, but also be rewarded with credits when they recycle. These credits could be used to exchange for products made with reconstituted materials from waste.

Promoting exchanges and collaboration between parties, the platform could spark new novel ideas that could 31

Fig 2.4.b

Recyclables Transported Over Large Distances Households

Public Waste Collectors

Integrated Waste Management Facility

Overseas Recycling Plant

30%

Local Recycling Plant

Recyclables Processed Locally

Wastelabs

Circular Commons

Local Recycling Plant

Amount of resource spent in transporting the recyclables Neighbourhood

District

National

Transnational

Fig 2.6 Towards a New Circular Architecture

catalyst the circular economy.

1.2.6

Large Amount of Resources Exhausted in Transporting Waste and Recyclables [Fig 2.6] The movement of materials and recyclables in cities creates a large ecological footprint and diminishes the effects of recycling. In Singapore, most of our building materials are imported from overseas and 30% of the city-state’s recyclables are exported overseas for recycling16. Recyclables are sorted and baled in Singapore, and then shipped overseas for processing and recycling. The high mileage incurred in transporting the materials and recyclables only exhaust more resources – specifically fossil fuels.

It is vital to explore ways to minimise the movement of the materials and recyclables and to explore a localised source of materials – that is waste. The thesis explore a decentralised waste management infrastructure that would enable waste to be recycled at the point of generation. This would eliminate the need to transport the recyclables to a centralised facility to be sorted and then to be transported again to be processed saving significant mileage (resources).

Challenges of recycling locally remains to be cost and efficiency. Local recycling manufacturers have stated that it economically inviable to do it locally.

However, with China’s announcement in 2017 that it no longer wants to import ‘foreign garbage’, it has created challenges for cities like Singapore. As such, despite of economic challenges, it is critical that cities continue to build on local recycling capabilities .

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Towards a New Circular Architecture

1.3 Thesis Vision & Strategy

35

Fig 3.1

MANU FAC TU RE RS SORTING

R&D RY LA B O RATO

SI UD GN IO S

NG

ST

M

DE

L& RIA IC E MATE IN CL GN T C SI E PRO DU D

RS

N OT OT Y PIN G LA B

KI

U SI

D ON O SEC SH 3D M TIN G H U B C H A R

PRODUCTION OF CIRCULAR COMPONENTS FOR THE CITY

G

PR

CO NV E PL R AN

A

PR EP ST

CYCLING E R

PR IN USE RS

P

PLANT

ON SI T

N TIO A AR ION AT

Fig 3.3.a Towards a New Circular Architecture

Thesis Vision

1.3 1.3.1

Thesis Vision [Fig 3.1] The thesis envisages a future of circular economy & zero waste – a new urban infrastructure that engages the cities and its users with waste. Where waste generated could be used to generate our built environment & the various actors: citizens, designers and manufacturers are empowered to operate under the new circular economy. (to engender a bottom up approach)

1.3.2

A Circular Economy In light the climate crisis the world is in now, Cities must balance economic development and environmental sustainability. It is by adopting a circular economy and reducing waste that Cities could benefit the environment and create economic opportunities For cities to grow their economy, it requires energy, water and other resources which the world is running out of and generates solid waste which must be disposed of.

This pose as great challenges for a city like Singapore where resources and land are scarce. Landfill spaces are running out at our current rate of waste production.

For cities to overcome these challenges and to grow sustainably, it needs to move towards a circular economy.

1.3.3

Thesis strategies Existing food and beverage (F&B) establishments serves as the point of intervention. The reasons are multiple.

Examples of F&B establishments include, the hawker centres, the markets and the food courts in shopping malls. Firstly, food and plastic are the largest unrecycled waste streams in Singapore. It is in F&B establishment in Singapore, that sees large constant stream of food waste, and plastic packaging being generated. This allows the segregation and processing of waste at source, preventing one of the largest issues troubling

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Towards a New Circular Architecture

Fig 3.3.b

39

Fig 3.3.c

Fig 3.3.d

Towards a New Circular Architecture

the recycling rates in Singapore – contamination. On the other hand, F&B establishment is a good opportunity to engage the citizen as it is part of their daily routine to be visiting an F&B establishment.

[Fig 3.3.b] Hence, it is by equipping existing public F&B nodes with recycling capabilities, developing them into Circular Commons [Fig 3.3.a], and employing the concepts of designing for disassembly that the vision of circular economy and promise of zero waste can be achieved.

This allow the intervention to be well distributed and amongst the citizens, to raise awareness, and to engage the various actors in the movement.

As such, a list of 108 government market-hawker centres and 169 shopping malls had been mapped.

This existing F&B establishments will be fitted with recycling capabilities. Out of these 277 locations, 20 largest establishments were selected to be district nodes whereby the Circular Commons, an integrated community waste centre, will be located. This would create a decentralised waste recycling infrastructure in the city, amongst its citizens.

[Fig 3.3.i] Taking each district population to be 100 000 (which is Queenstown planning area population17), and that each person on average disposes 800grams18 of waste per day – each district will be expecting 280 tonnes and 220 tonnes of food waste and plastic waste respectively. That is the weight of approximately 330 buses. There is a substantial amount of waste at the district level that if converted to an equivalent amount of building materials will be valuable to the district.

While formulating the strategies, it takes into consideration that It is important to organize recycling of resources at an appropriate scale that matches the specific of the neighbourhood or district, and the recyclable waste.

Local recycling networks are based on the concept to recycle resources as much as possible in their area of production and create wide-area systems for resources that cannot be recycled in their area of production, thus building multiple-layered local recycling networks.

Neighborhood Scale: Wasteab [Fig 3.3.c-e] Existing F&B establishments are sources of large waste streams, and high footfall. This serves as a good intervention point to tackle food waste at its source, to collect domestic waste and to engage and raise awareness amongst the general population.

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Waste for Credits Point Reusable

Organic Waste

Recyclable Deposit Point Recyclable

Waste

Contaminated Recyclable

Cleaned Contaminated Recyclable

Processing Point wash / dry / flatten

Towards a New Circular Architecture

Wastelabs

Anaerobic Digestor

Organic Waste Pollutants

Organic Waste Sorting Plant

I

Composter

Fig 3.3.e 43

Fig 3.3.f

Fig 3.3.g

Towards a New Circular Architecture

These establishment would be retrofitted with a scalable smart recyclable collection system that allows user to exchange recyclable for credits, the recycling of food waste on site, a space to foster a recycling community.

This system is designed to be modular to be able to scale according to the specific volume of waste it would be expecting. This system would be integrated with the existing facilities of the F&B establishment to provide convenience for users to recycle food.

Pasir Panjang Food Centre was chosen to demonstrate a Trashlab on a neighbourhood scale.

District Scale: Circular Commons 20 largest F&B establishments were selected to be the district nodes whereby the Circular Commons will be located. Equipped with recycling capabilities, workshop spaces, R&D labs integrated with public space, it aims to bring together the three groups of actors: the citizens, the designers and the manufacturers. It capitalises on the shared spaces such as the workshops, the R&D labs and public spaces to encourage exchanges & collaboration between the actors. The Circular Common look primarily into the potential of 3D printing in the built industry to move away from a Fordist method of manufacturing our city to manufacturing on demand. This will also serve to propagate the idea of ‘producing what you consume’, including the built environment. The Circular Commons premises on the ideas of a circular economy, which seeks to keep resources in a perpetual loop, constantly regenerating them into new forms and products. This is manifested as three main spaces: Recycling, Making and Using. At the core of the Circular Commons, is the production of building materials and components which is then reinserted into the built environment to revitalise the city (Refer to the Circular Commons’ Program Wheel).

In essence, it is a decentralised and an integrated upcycling facility that engages the various actors, and function to upcycle waste into materials to fulfil the needs of the city’s built environment, and its citizen’s needs.

On hindsight, the Circular Common also serves as a supporting infrastructure to engender a bottom up approach – to catalyst ground-up initiative. Due to its strategic location amongst neighbourhood, it allows the ground-up organisation to reach out to a larger population and provides the convenience to carry out their daily operations. In addition, it will also equip these organisations with resources: equipment, spaces, influence, workshop space, which they previously cannot 45

Recycling Manufacturer

Recycling Preparation Station

Sorting Plant

Conversion Plant

R&D Labs Requires Repair

Wastelabs

Reusables in good condition

Waste for Credits Point Reusable

Anaerobic Digestor

Organic Waste

Organic Waste

Pollutants

Organic Waste Sorting Plant

Recyclable Deposit Point

Composter

Organic Waste Conversion Plant

Recyclable

Waste

I

Dryer > miller > reaction chamber > mixer > extruder > cutter

Recomposited Material

Plastic: 7 Types

Contaminated Recyclable

E-Waste

I

Ferrous Metal

Plastic Waste Conversion Plant Shredder > Washer > Dryer > Heating Chamber > Extruder > Cutter

Non-Ferrous Metal Paper and Cardboard

Cleaned Contaminated Recyclable

Processing Point wash / dry / atten

Non-Organic Waste Sorting Plant

Reusable Materials

Glass Wood

F

Textile & Leather Others

Raw Materials

Raw Materials

Old and Un

Towards a New Circular Architecture

Designer

User

Making Design Studio

Using Materials & Product Clinic

Prototyping Lab

Second Charm Shop

3D Printing Hub

Materials & Product Clinic

I

Incinerator

F

Factories (Off-Site)

Fabric Workshops / D&T Workshops

product

/

Second Charm Shop

scale

Biofuel /Energy Operations of Circular Commons

Facade

Floor

Wall

Ceiling

Door

Window

Compost Park

Modular Building Elements

City Recomposited Material

Urban Infastructure Urban Environment Digital Files

3D Printing Hub

Design Studio Building Framework

Prototype & Digital Files

Retail & Showcase Gallery

Users’ Orders

Building

R&D Labs

Modular Building Elements

Materials & Joineries

Prototyping Lab Citizens design with guidance of designer

Furnitures Household

Consumer Products Users Products of Circular Commons at respective scales

nwanted Components

Fig 3.3.h 47

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Fig 3.3.i 49

Fig 3.3.j

Fig 3.3.k

Towards a New Circular Architecture

afford or have no access to.

[Fig 3.3.f-h] Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre being a national distribution centre was chosen as a location for a Circular Commons as a district scale. It is a point of convergence for food vendors and citizens from all parts of Singapore and is a large production source of food and plastic waste stream. Taking the land adjacent to Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre, it serves as an extension to the centre to process the waste it generates, and to engage the users it brings in the waste management process.

City Scale: Urban Disassembly Flats

Metabolism

by

Design

for

Central to the vision of circular economy and zero waste, is also how waste generated can be food to construct the built environment itself. Our cities had always been conceived as fixed and permanent structures although they are subjected to the ever-changing needs of its citizens and economic structure. Cities have a penchant for newness and expansion. For that reason, perfectly standing buildings were demolished, only for new ones to be erected.

It is therefore necessary to rethink how we are designing for our cities – a growing one that is. Design for Disassembly (DfD) is the way moving forward. Propagating the ideas of cradle to cradle, DfD facilitates future change and the eventual dismantlement for recovery of systems, components and materials. This design process includes developing the assemblies, components, materials and construction techniques to accomplish this goal. This allows for the extended lifespan of both the building and the material. As such, DfD reinforces the vision of circular economy and zero waste.

The thesis would demonstrate this In two ways. Firstly, the Circular Common will be designed for disassembly and be constructed using recomposited materials and building components it produces. The Circular Commons not only acts as a catalyst for the city to reduce, reuse and recycle waste but also showcase the potential of DfD and potential of waste as building materials. Furthermore, through a new modular typology for residential blocks explore how this technology could be multiplied in the city on a larger scale to achieve its vision of a circular economy and promise of zero waste.

[Fig 3.3.j-k] Secondly, premising on the Greater Southern Waterfront Masterplan, the thesis sees the opportunity 51

District

Fig 3.3.m Regional

Fig 3.3.n National

Fig 3.3.o Towards a New Circular Architecture

with the 9000 units of residential apartments – that is planned to be built on the current Keppel Club site – to push the boundaries for a new urban typology that utilizes Designing for Disassembly as a designing and building method. Residential apartments serve as a good starting point to push the boundary of DfD in the urban environment due to its modular and repetitive nature.

Designing for disassembly would provide the opportunity for citizens to build their designs themselves. This would encourage stewardship amongst the citizens over their built environment – to have a change of mentality that the built environment is the government’s sole responsibility – to provide opportunities for citizens to improve their built environment. To achieve this, the design of components to encourage self-built, must take into consideration the transportation modes, the tool accessible by the citizens and the weight that the users can accommodate.

Phases of Implementation [Fig 3.3.m-o] For Singapore to achieve zero waste and move towards a circular economy would be a long-term project that might span for decades. As such, the vision will be implemented in phases, starting with the Greater Southern Waterfront District. It will subsequently be implemented on a regional scale and eventually to a full fletched national scale.

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1.4 Research Conclusion

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1.4 Conclusion

Research Conclusion At the rate cities are consuming today, material consumption by cities will outgrow what the planet can provide. It will require an equivalent of 1.6 earths to continue to meet the cities’ resource needs and to absorb its waste. Cities must move towards a circular economy and harness on its citizens and the potential of bottomup approaches so that it can find agency in making a change.

The paper has identified gaps and inadequacy in Singapore approaches to waste and resource management. Primarily, the linear material flow in cities and the over reliance of top down and paternalistic approaches have led to reduction of visibility to the city’s issue with waste and discourages responsibility by the citizens. While a bottom-up approaches have showed positive results, an infrastructure gap impedes groundup organisation to have a more significant impact.

To achieve the vision of circular economy and promise of zero waste, the thesis proposes that it is by (1) developing Circular Commons, (2) employing the concepts of designing for disassembly and (3) exploring avenues to nudge the public that cities could move away from an excessive production of waste and consumption of natural resources.

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Part II Architectural Design Proposal

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2.1 Design Strategy

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Modular Units

1

4

7

Structure

Waste Beacons + Service Towers

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2

5

Spatial Units

Materials & Storage Belt

8

Butterfly Roof

Design Strategy

2.1

Adhering to the principles of designing for disassembly, a series of design strategies were formulated to facilitate future change and the eventual dismantlement for recovery of systems, components and materials.

3

Program

1

Conceptualise as a generic volume made up of modular units for flexible configuration and customisability

2

A tartan grid is employed to allow for spatial permutation. Furthermore the tartan grid would also provide a clear serve and service space to facilitate the movement of people and materials.

3

A materials and storage belt connects the back of house, for recycling purposes, and a public main body at the front.

4

The structure is made up steel T-groove profiles, and connected via dry joints. To allow for the customisation to happen throughout the life span of the building, a building management unit (BMU) is integrated in the structure.

5

6

Public Component: Kit of Parts 6

9

A Circular Commons Model

The materials and storage belt comprise of a two-way lane for forklifts to facilitate the movement of materials, and it also contain a storage and display shelf that connects the back of house with the public main body.

The public main body is assembled using a kit of parts. As such, a myriad of public spaces can be created - office, retail, workshop and educational spaces.

7

To allow for maximum configurability, all service elements are extracted out from the main body to form service tower. Beyond the service tower are waste beacons that will be attached onto existing pedestrian paths.

8

To align to the objectives of sustainability, the roof is design to allow for stack ventilation. It is also equipped with solar panels to harvest solar energy.

9

With the following 8 strategies, it forms the Circular Commons Model.

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2.2 Site Response

65

1

5

Site Context

A Green Parkway to Connect Public to Site

9

Planned Space for Future Expansion

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2

6

Proposed Site

3

Pasir Panjang Line

Orientation of Circular Commons

7

Proposed Vehicular

10

Recycling Plaza

12

Spatial Zone

ear Park

r Access

es

Site Response

2.2

The plot adjacent to Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre was chosen as a site for demonstration how the design strategies can be applied to a unique site.

4 Proposed Park Extension to connect existing transport nodes

8

1

The site context.

2

Situated right next to Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre. It will have three public fronts (1) one that faces the West Coast Highway junction, (2) the other to the east facing the pedestrian cum green parkway, and lastly (3) to the south facing the Harbour Drive junction.

3

As drawn in URA Masterplan, Pasir Panjang Linear Park is planned to link Labrador Park with West Coast Park up north. The proposed site sit adjacent to the planned PPLP.

4

A proposed extension to the Pasir Panjang Linear Park aims to link users from the existing public transport nodes with the Greater Southern Waterfront Parcel and the Pasir Panjang Linear Park.

5

Lush greeneries on both sides, cycling paths, and a wide pedestrian way would accentuate the biophilic experience for the visitors

6

The strategic orientation of the circular commons is to facilitate the movement of waste from Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre into the Circular Commons, and the outwards movement of the products via the public front.

7

A two-lane service road is proposed to connect to the existing roads of Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre to the Circular Commons.

8

The Waste Beacons connected by a bridge connects the Circular Commons to the pedestrian path – to draw the public in.

9

The Circular Commons is designed to be expanded and contracted to respond to the district waste levels

10

The open space that is catered for future is designated as a Recycling Plaza. It will be injected with green spaces, community gardening plots, bicycle parking and spaces for weekend bazaar booths.

12

The Recycling Plaza is zone for various usage

13

This is a Circular Commons at maximum operational capacity

Waste Beacons and Service Towers that Reaches Out

13

Expanded Circular Commons

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11

Weekend Recycling Bazaar Over the weekends and special occasions the Recycling Plaza will be hosting a Recycling Bazaar. Event Booths (in orange) can be set up with the same kit of parts as the main body and be located at the designated lots in the recycling plaza. The carpark is designed to the same tartan grid as the plaza - serving instead as an extension to the plaza during the days of the Recycling Bazaar.

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2.3 User Experience

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The Recycling Gateway Approaching Circular Commons from the Pasir Panjang Linear Park.

The waste beacons – that changes periodically – attracts the attention of the public. The beacons like an arm reaches out to the public to bring them in.

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The Sorting Station Right after the entrance, the user is directed to the sorting station where they can deposit their waste. The waste sorting processes like a drama is being unveiled before the users to bring visual impact and awareness to the issue.

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West Coast Highway Junction This is a view from the West Coast Highway junction. At the foreground is the proposed park extension that connects to the existing transport nodes, and a series of bazaar booths.

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Harbour Drive Junction This is a view from the Harbour Drive junction. On the left is the Pasir Panjang Linear Park leading to West Coast Park. As such, family-centric activities like a kids’ play area and an adventure corner is introduced. The kids’ play area is assembled using upcycled materials - intended to engage the children in recycling when they are young.

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The Community Garden To provide an avenue, and to encourage green stewardship, community garden spaces is intended to be managed by adjacent schools. This would serve as an educational tool and help instil a sense of ownership in the public over their own environment.

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PASIR PANJANG WHOLESALE CENTRE

MA BEL PROPOSED VEHICULAR ACCESS

WASTE PROCESSING STATION

STAFF SERVICE CORE

SERVICE LANE

Towards a New Circular Architecture

BUILDI MANAG

RECYCLING PROCESSES

SERVICE LANE

ATERIALS & STORAGE LT

FOOD CENTRE

THE ADVENTURE TOWER

MULTI-MEDIA SPACE

BLACK SOLDIER FLY LEARNING CENTRE

ING GEMENT UNIT

WORKSHOP SPACE: REPAIR KOPITIAM

PUBLIC SERVICE CORE

HARBOUR DRIVE

PASIR PANJANG LINEAR PARK

+35200

+32000

+28800

+25600

+22400

+19200

+16000

+12800

+9600

+6400

+3200

PUBLIC SPACE

Cross Section Divided by the materials and storage belt in the centre, we have the back of house that mainly for recycling purposes, and then public main body to the front. As you can see, the public main body is made up of various volume and for different purposes.

And on the right, attached to existing public path is the waste beacons, that is intended to funnel the public in 83

Stack Ventilation Effect Aligned to the sustainability objectives, stack ventilation is designed to promote natural ventilation within the design.

VRV Split Cooling System This cooling system not only allow for more individualise control over the cooling requirements it reduces uneccessary energy spending in cooling unused space.

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Material Movement A clear served and serviced relationship between space to facilitate the recycling processes, and for the public to use the space.

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HARBOUR DRIVE

PUBLIC SERVICE CORE PASIR PANJANG LINEAR PARK

WEEKEND RECYCLING BAZAAR

UNDER CONSTRUCTION: THE CARBON TOWER

FOOD CO

WORKSHOP SPACE: REPAIR KOPITIAM

WASTE PROCESSING STATION

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THE RECYCLING AVENUE

DELIVERY LANE

OURT

THE A-DOOR-PT TOWER

PUBLIC SERVICE CORE

BUILDING MANAGEMENT UNIT

WORKSHOP SPACE

WEEKEND RECYCLING BAZAAR

WEST COAST HIGHWAY

+35200

+32000

+28800

+25600

+22400

+19200

+16000

+12800

+9600

+6400

+3200

WASTE SORTING STATION

MAKING STATION

ASSEMBLY STATION

Longitudinal Section To your left is Harbour Drive, and to your right is West Coast Highway.

On the ground storey, is the recycling avenue – where users could learn what it takes to convert waste into useful building materials again – sorting, processing, making and assembling. It is also in this section, that the volumetric variation is more prominent.

87

Stack Ventilation Effect The employment of a tartan grid- to allow for elevational-porosity - and a series of butterfly roof is intended to promote natural ventilation within the design.

VRV Split Cooling System and The Tartan Grid The tartan grid not only allow for elevational porosity, it also provide the neccessary space to M&E services.

Towards a New Circular Architecture

Solar Harvesting PV Cells are installed on top of the butterfly roofs to harvest solar energy.

Rainwater Harvesting The butterfly roof helps direct the rain water for collection - for irrigation.

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2.4 User Design Options

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Reduce Option

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Reuse Option

2.4

User Design Options To cater to the varying needs and customisations level required by the users – the design choice can be classified into three main options – Reduce Option, Reuse Option and Recycle Option.

Recycle Option

1

The Reduce Option An option that utilises only roller blinds. This is the most basic option for a tenant to make their own space. A florist and a bazaar booth user are some possible user groups that would might find this option relevant.

2

The Reuse Option Using standard kit of parts made of conventional materials allows users to recycle old parts and adopt new ones

3

The Recycle Option There is always an inner desire for one to express oneself. Harnessing on current technology, users can adopt composite material made with waste to customise building components for their space.

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2.5 Open Source: Kit of Parts

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2.5

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Kit of Parts

An open source of Kit of Parts is envisage to allow the public to customise their own units. Furthermore, to facilitate the adding, subtracting, substituting and modifying of parts throughout the lifespan of the building - a series of details had been design. This is to propagate the ideas of cradle to cradle - to prolong the lifespan of the building and its parts - and to keep the materials in a perpetual loop.

The building components had been classified into six main building families - each of them sharing a unique detail.

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2.5

Towards a New Circular Architecture

Kit of Parts

An open source of Kit of Parts is envisage to allow the public to customise their own units. Furthermore, to facilitate the adding, subtracting, substituting and modifying of parts throughout the lifespan of the building - a series of details had been design. This is to propagate the ideas of cradle to cradle - to prolong the lifespan of the building and its parts - and to keep the materials in a perpetual loop.

The building components had been classified into six main building families - each of them sharing a unique detail.

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2.5

Towards a New Circular Architecture

Kit of Parts

An open source of Kit of Parts is envisage to allow the public to customise their own units. Furthermore, to facilitate the adding, subtracting, substituting and modifying of parts throughout the lifespan of the building - a series of details had been design. This is to propagate the ideas of cradle to cradle - to prolong the lifespan of the building and its parts - and to keep the materials in a perpetual loop.

The building components had been classified into six main building families - each of them sharing a unique detail.

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2.5

A Living Organism

Towards a New Circular Architecture

As oppose to what a building is today - a fixed object - the thesis envisage built environment as a living organism that is able to morph and grow with time. The city has a penchant for newness and expansion and it is by liberating its structure with dry joints and an open source of kit of parts that the desire of cities can be balanced with ecological concerns.

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2.5

A Living Organism

Towards a New Circular Architecture

As oppose to what a building is today - a fixed object - the thesis envisage built environment as a living organism that is able to morph and grow with time. The city has a penchant for newness and expansion and it is by liberating its structure with dry joints and an open source of kit of parts that the desire of cities can be balanced with ecological concerns.

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2.5

A Living Organism

Towards a New Circular Architecture

As oppose to what a building is today - a fixed object - the thesis envisage built environment as a living organism that is able to morph and grow with time. The city has a penchant for newness and expansion and it is by liberating its structure with dry joints and an open source of kit of parts that the desire of cities can be balanced with ecological concerns.

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2.6 Waste Beacons: A Public Driven Nudge

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2.2

The Waste Beacons ‘Beacons of Waste’ is a series of 12 storey high towers extending from the Circular Common main body that attaches along existing pedestrian path to bring in the public.

A community artist will be invited to design each of the tower using locally available waste materials in the district. The intention is to highlight the issue of waste in the district and at the same time make use of waste as a medium to reinvigorate the environment. Each of the tower will bear its own unique character and seek to highlight a message.

The towers serves as a nudge - a light-hearted, fun and engaging way - to encourage a positive behavior amongst the community towards waste. The height of the towers allows a commanding view of the community after one climb out from the ‘tower of waste’. It aims to create a moment of contemplation from one - realising how the city they are looking at is built on ‘towers of waste’ which they are standing on at that very moment.

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Black Soldier Flies Learning Tower Food Waste (2019)

Lim Sian Chow Black soldier fly farm, bird feeding balconies, planter boxes

Food waste is one of the largest unrecycled waste in Singapore. Black soldier flies (BSF) is found to be a very beneficial solution to this issue.

Lim saw the opportunity to use black soldier flies to engage and bring attention to food waste, This would also create more awareness of the benefits of this insect. Aligned to the life cycle and uses of black soldier flies. The user is first invited to the breeding area of the BSF (the bottom section of the tower) - the eggs and adult flies. Proceeding upwards is the bird watching and feeding section where the users can purchase the BSF’ pupae for feeding of the birds. The tower last section opens the users to a scenic view of planters and curtain of greeneries - that utilizes the waste of BSF as fertilisers.

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Kids Adventure Tower Plastic Waste (2020)

Shruthi M Durai Bales of plastic, gabion wall structure, perforated recomposited plastic panels

To built the anchor for a greener future. Constantly reminded by her childhood and that values are inculcated since young, Shruthi believes strongly in engaging children in recycling at a young age. While highly distressed by the plastic waste situation in the neighbourhood, Shruthi saw the opportunity to engage kids using the colours that comes with it, Situated at the Harbour Drive junction, right next to the kids’ play area, Shruthi has designed it as both a learning gallery for plastic waste and also an adventure tower for the children.

On the first two storey of the tower it features a gabion wall filled with bales of plastic. As the user proceed up the tower, the tower is cladded with a series of perforated folded facade made using recomposited material from plastic waste. The facade don the colours of the plastic bags that can be found in Singapore - which is mainly red, blue, yellow and white. Beyond the front facade, the other three sides are fitted with adventure elements for the kids,

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A-Door-PT Tower Upcycling (2020)

Iskandar Johar Used doors, used windows

To promote a sustainable lifestyle while satisfying the Singaporeans desire to purchase fresh and new things – Iskandar directs the users to adopt. Adopting something old for something new to spruce up one’s home. Iskandar uses an assemblage of used door which he installed on the T-groove steel profiles. In addition, Iskandar harness on the 3D printing capabilities of the Circular Commons to produce customised panels in bright colours to add some visual interest to the installation.

Facing the residential area, the installation(tower) serves as a display shelves for these used elements for the public to adopt (buy).

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The Carbon Tower Carbon Output (2020)

Ho Tse Tsing Deconstructed containers

A tower in partial construction. Facing the Pasir Panjang Terminal, it makes use of the countless shipping containers, that is put to waste every year, as its facade. At the very top of the tower is a viewing deck that directs the user view to the terminal, Pulau Bukom and Jurong Island - the site to the petrochemical industries in Singapore, and where consumerism can be seen taking place - one of the main sources of Singapore’s carbon output. These are sights that have been obscured from public line of sight.

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The Carbon Tower Like a beacon that guides ships to shore, the Waste Tower serves to guide cities towards zero waste. The Waste Towers serves not only as visual warning, more importantly, as a nudge to guide citizens towards a greener future – through education, and engaging them through activities.

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2.7 Repurposing Obsolete Structure

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Repurposing Obsolete Structures

2.7

1

4

Typical Multi-storey Carpark

Create Double Storey Space for Recycling Processes

7

Install Interior Wall Panels

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2

5

Remove Alternate

Install Steel Profiles

8

Install Railin

As Singapore move towards being car-lite, car-free. Structures like the multi storey carpark would become obsolete. Using the same design strategies, the thesis took the opportunity to explore how existing structure can be repurpose into a Circular Commons.

Floors and All Parapet

3

Remove Existing Service Core

s Onto Existing Structure

ngs and Facade

6

9

Install Floor Structure

Install New Service Core 125

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A Typical Multi-storey Carpark As Singapore move towards being car-lite, car-free. Structures like the multi storey carpark would become obsolete. Using the same design strategies, the thesis took the opportunity to explore how existing structure can be repurpose into a Circular Commons.

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A Repurposed MSCP Repurposing an existing structure brings about many ecological benefits.

Obsolete structures can be made relevant again and less materials will be used to construct a new one.

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Thesis Conclusion

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Thesis Conclusion At the rate cities are consuming today, material consumption by cities will outgrow what the planet can provide. More importantly, the UN have declared a climate crisis. It is pertinent that we rethink how we design. We need a new ‘5 points of architecture’ that takes into consideration environmental factors.

Cities must move towards a circular economy and harness on its citizens so that it can find agency in making a change.

The thesis proposes that it is by developing Circular Commons, employing the concepts of designing for disassembly and exploring avenues to nudge the public that that the vision of circular economy and promise of zero waste can be achieved.

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Bibliography

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Murray, Sarah. “How Technology Can Reduce Consumption in Cities.” World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/02/how-technology-canreduce-consumption-in-cities/.

2

IRP (2018). The Weight of Cities: Resource Requirements of Future Urbanization.

Swilling, M., Hajer, M., Baynes, T., Bergesen, J., Labbé, F., Musango, J.K., Ramaswami, A., Robinson, B., Salat, S., Suh, S., Currie, P., Fang, A., Hanson, A. Kruit, K., Reiner, M., Smit, S., Tabory, S. A Report by the International Resource Panel. United Nations Environment Programme, Nairobi, Kenya.

3

UN DESA (2019), World Urbanization Prospects: The 2018 Revision, UN, New York, https://doi.org/10.18356/b9e995fe-en.

4

“The Weight of Cities,” United Nations Environment Programme. https://www. unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/story/weight-cities.

5

UN Environment and International Energy Agency (2017): Towards a zero-emission, efficient, and resilient buildings and construction sector. Global Status Report 2017.

6

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Accessed November 20, 2019. http://www.zerowastesg.com/2008/12/08/foodwaste-recycling/. C40 Knowledge Community. https://www.c40knowledgehub.org/s/ article/Why-solid-waste-incineration-is-not-the-answer-to-your-city-s-wasteproblem?language=en_US.

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C40 Knowledge Community. Accessed October 30, 2019. https://www. c40knowledgehub.org/s/article/Why-solid-waste-incineration-is-not-the-answerto-your-city-s-waste-problem?language=en_US.

8

“60% Of Singaporean Households Recycle Regularly, but Many Not Doing It Right: Surveys.” CNA, April 29, 2019. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/ singapore-households-recycle-blue-bins-nea-mewr-11487316.

9

Singapore Environment Council. Consumer Plastic and Plastic Resource Ecosystem in Singapore, August 30, 2018.

10

Muruganathan, Kavickumar. “Commentary: Why Doesn’t Recycling Rope in the Karang Guni?” CNA, September 24, 2019. https://www.channelnewsasia. com/news/commentary/singapore-recycling-rag-a-bone-karung-guni-climatechange-11491692.

11

“60% Of Singaporean Households Recycle Regularly, but Many Not Doing It Right: Surveys.” CNA, April 29, 2019. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/ singapore-households-recycle-blue-bins-nea-mewr-11487316.

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Thaler, Richard H., 1945- and Cass R. Sunstein. 2009. Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness. New York: Penguin Books.

13

Christiansen, J. (2009). Social Movement and Collective Behavior: Four Stages of Social Movement. EBSCO Research Starter, 1-7.

14

Hopper, R. D. (1950). The revolutionary process: A frame of reference for the study of revolutionary movements. Social Forces 28 (3), 270-280. Retrieved May 12, 2008 from EBSCO Online Database SocINDEX http://search. ebscohost.com/login. aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=1358 2480&site=ehost-live

15

Office of Sound Material-cycle Society, Waste Management and Recycling Department, Ministry of Environment. History and Current State of Waste Management and the 3Rs in Japan, September 16, 2013.

16

Mohan, Matthew. “About 30% of Singapore’s Recyclable Waste Exported Overseas in 2018: Masagos.” CNA, August 6, 2019. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/ singapore/singapore-recyclable-waste-exported-overseas-in-2018-11786580

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18

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AR5807 Architectural Design Thesis Department of Architecture School of Design and Environment