Thesis 2014

ARCHITECTURE PORTFOLIO

[ THESIS ]

Ka Yan TSANG [SALLY ] UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN TAUBMAN COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN PLANNING Master of Architecture Graduate 2014

M.ARCH. THESIS

THESIS UNIT

[ ANONANIMAL ] UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, Winter 2014 Advisor: Jason Young

Our collective reference point has been the plush contingencies of our present circumstance as actors implicated in a thick mesh of digital and virtual relational assemblies. Hard and soft technologies are enabling new, sometimes improbable body types that can strike multiple, simultaneous relationships with other singular and collective bodies. This sets up interesting questions concerning the relationships between architectural production and the construction of agency and subjectivity. Systems understood to date as natural are increasingly tending towards the postnatural.

Our work recognizes that there is not so much a crisis of “the real� as there is a new sense of its artificiality.

Working together to qualify what ANONANIMAL could be, we surmised five basins of research whose undertaking was necessary. The Postnatural History basin was understood as meta to the UNIT as all of the projects ask questions of architecture in the epoch of the anthropocene. Similarly, the Natural History basin offered a comparative logic within our deliberations as there are historically distinct interfaces between the contours of natural history and a motivated, curious public. The Predatory Machines/ Cyborg/ Database Operations Basin gave consideration to the computational

plenum that characterizes the contemporary. To not deal with the machinic nature of contemporary experience was never a viable option within the UNIT. The Food basin gave specificity to our research. Finally, the Companion Species/ Zoology Basin aptly forms the x-factor of the ANONANIMAL production.

Animals are increasingly managed as both living species and source material for giving representational identity to the state of the planet and the plight of humans acting within it and on it.

Our work collectively attempts to leverage these Research Basins towards disciplinary questions of many kinds.

--Jason Young Associate Professor Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning University of Michigan

Top row [ from left] 1 Cankun Aluminum Recycling, Xiamen, China, 2005, by Edward Burtynsky 2 Oil Fields, Belridge, California,2002, by Edward Burtynsky 3 Lake Lefroy Mining, Western Australia, 2007, by Edward Burtynsky Middle row [ from left] 4 E.L. Smith Quarry in Barre, Vermont, 1991, by Edward Burtynsky 5 Oxford Tyre Pile, Westley, California, USA, 1999, by Edward Burtynsky 6 Shipbreaking in Chittagong, Bangladesh, 2000, by Edward Burtynsky Bottom row [ from left] 7 Pivot irrigation in Saudi Arabia 8 Coronado Feeders, Dalhart, Texas, 2013, by Mishka Henner 9 Deda Chicken Processing Plant in Dehui, Jilin Province, China, 2005, by Edward Burtynsky

[ MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPE IN EPOCH OF ANTHROPOCENE ]

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nokia n95 8gb nokia 2600 classic nokia 7205 intri nokia 1209 nokia 26210 navigator nokia nokia n96 nokia 6220 classic 2605 mirage nokia n95 8gb nokia 2600 classic nokia 7205 intrigue nokia n78 nokia 26210 navigator nokia 1209 nokia 2680 slide nokia 7070 prism nokia n96 nokia 3120 5000 classic nokia 2680 s nokia nokia 6220 classic nokia 1606 nokia 6650 nokia 6124 c kia n78 nokia 3606 nokia slide 6600 slide nokia 1680 slide5320 nokia 2680 slide nokia 7070 prism nokia nokia 5000 nokia 26803600 slide nokia xpress nokia 6 nokia 6600 fold nokia 1606 nokia 5220 xpress nokia 7610 supernova nokia 3606 nokia 3600 slide nokia 6212 classi nokia 6600 slide nokia 5320 xpress nokia 7510 supernova nokia 7210 supernova nokia 6600 fold 8208 nokia 7310 supernova nokia 6205 nokia 7610 nokia supernova nokianokia e71 3610 fold nokia 7510 supernova nokia 3608 nokian85 7210 supernova nokia nokia 8800 carbon arte nokia e66 nokia 8208 nokia n79 nokia 7310 supernova nokia 3608 n96 8800 carbon arte nokia n85 nokia nokia 3610 foldnokia 5800 xpress music nokia nokia n79 nokia 2228 nokia 5130 epress music nokia 2320 classic nokia n96 nokia 5800 xpress musicnokia e63 nokia 2228 nokia 6260 slidenokia 5130 epress music nokia 1661 nokia 7100 supernov nokia n97 nokia 2320 classic nokia 1006 nokia e63 nokia 6208 classic nokia 6260 slide 7510 nokia nokia n97 nokia 6303 classic nokia 8800 gold arte nokia 5730 xpress mus nokia 1006 nokia 6700 classic nokia 6208 classic nokia 7510 e75 nokia e71x nokia nokia 5330 xpress music nokia 6303 classic nokia 2700 classic nokia 5730 xpress music nokia n8 nokia 6700 classic nokia 5030 nokianokia e55 7020 nokia e nokia nokia 2720 fold 6720 nokia 5330 xpress music nokia 2700 classic nokia n86 8mp nokia 2730 classic islide nokia nokia 5030 6600 nokia 6216 nokia 7020 nokia 2720 fold nokia nokia 5530 xpress nokia 6790 surge nokia 3710 fold nokia e52 no nokia mural nokia 2730 classic nokia 6600 islide nokia 3710 fold us nokia slid nokia 5530 xpress nokia 7705 twist nokia 6790 surge nokia 3710 fold nokia e72 us 6760 nokia 67 nokia 3710 fold us nokia 2705 shade nokia e72 nokia 7705 twist nokia 3720 classic nokia n97 mini nokia 5230 US nokia 6760 slide nokia 2705 shade nokia 5800 navigation nokia nokia 5230 n97 mini nokia n97 mini latin america nokia 5230 US nokia 5800 navigation nokia 5230 nokia 1616 nokia 1800 nokia 2690 nokia 37 nokia 1280 x6 latin nokia 1616 nokia 2690 nokianokia 6700 6350 slide us nokianokia 6700ams nokia 7230 nokia 2220 slide nokia 1800 nokia 3711 nokia 1280 nokia 7230 us nokia 6700 slide us nokia 6700 slide nokia 7230 nokia 2220 slide nokia 5330 mobile tv edi nokia 5235 comes with music us nokia nokia 7230 us nokia comes music nokiaedition x6 16gb nokia 52355235 comes withwith music us nokia 52710 navigation nokia 5235 comes with music nokia c5 nokia x6 16gb nokia c3 n8 nokia 6303i nokia classic nokia e5 nokia c5 nokia c3 nokia n8 nokia c6 nokia e5 nokia x2 nokia c6 nokia x2 nokia e73 mod nokia e73 mode nokia x5-01 nokianokia c1-00c1nokia c1-02 nokia c2-00 nokia x5-01 american version nokia x5-01 nokia c1-00 nokia x5-01 american version no nokia x3 nokia touch e7 & type nokia 5250 nokia nokia e7 c7c5-03 nokia c6-01 nokia x2-01 nokia nokia c3c5-03 touch & type nokia x2-01 nokia nokia c3 touch & type nokia c2-01 nokia x1-100

HONES RELEASED

nokia x7 nok nokia e6 nokia oro nokia x1-01 nokia c2-06 nokia oro nokia c2-03 nokia c5 5mp nokia c2-02 nokia c2-06 nokia 701 nokia n9 nokia c2-03 noki nokia c5 5mp nokia nokia 701 700600 nokia 101 nokia nokia 500 nokia 600 nokia 100 nokia 101 nokia c5-05 nokia 100 nokia nokianokia c5-05c2-05 nokia 603c5-06 nokia nokia a nokia c2-05 nokia c5-06 x2-05 nokia asha nokia asha 201 nokia asha 300200 nokia x2-05 nokia asha 300 nokia asha 303 nokia asha 303 nokia lumia 710 nokia lumia 710 nokia x2-02

nokia lumia 305

nokia asha 203

nokia asha 202 nokia lumia 305

nokia lumia 900 noki nokia lumia 910 nokia asha 302 nokianokia asha lumia 202 730 nokia asha 203

nokia lumia 610 nfc nokia 113 nokia 113 nokia asha 311 nokia asha 3 nokia asha 306 nokia lumia 305 nokia lumia 305 nokia lumia 920 nokia lumia nokia lumia 820 nokia nokia lumia lumia 810 822 nokia lumia 510 nokia lumia 822 nokia lumia 505

nokia lumia 620

nokia lumi

nokia nokia 105 nokia 301 lumi nokia lumia 720 nokia asha 2 nokia lum nokia asha 501 925 nokia lumia nokia lumia 925 nokia lumia 928 nokia 208 nokia lumia 207 nokia lumia 10 nokia lumia 1020 nokia lumia 625 nokia lumia 625 nokia lumia 720

nokia lumia 520

nokia lumia 1320

nokia lumia 2520

nokia x+

NEW NOKIA CELL PHONES RELEASED

nokia xl

nokia asha 503 nokia lumia 1320 nokia x

n

[ LANDSCAPE OF OBSOLESCENCE ]

va

feb mar

30m

apr jun jul aug oct

15m

2008 total: 1240m

2008

classic 6300i ic

nokia 1680

nokia e71

nov

2009

2009 total: 1330m

e75

jan

n97

730

merica

ition

150m

aug

nokia 5230

oct nov

2010 may jun aug

20m samsung galaxy s iphone 4 28m

oct nov

2011 apr may jun aug

20m

samsung galaxy sII 70m iphone 4s

oct

2011 total: 1795m

dec

2012

feb

60m samsung galaxy s3

may jun oct

30m

iphone 5

2012 total: 1700m

dec

2013

feb may

july oct

7m nokia lumia 520 40m samsung galaxy s4 40m iphone 5s

2013 total: 1800m

210

jun

2010 total: 1630m

-01

may

2014 BEST-SELLING PHONE THROUGHOUT ITS LIFETIME

TOTAL UNITS OF CELL PHONE SOLD WORLDWIDE (MILLIONS)

3

4

M.ARCH. THESIS

THESIS

[ OBSOLESCENCE AFTERLIFE ]

by Ka Yan Tsang UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, Winter 2014 Anonanimal Thesis Unit Advisor: Jason Young

This is the present reality: Guiyu, a town in southeast China, is a ‘ manufactured landscape that anticipates obsolescence of human intelligence, in the form of electronics. Each year, discarded electronics are shipped to this town and so as to many other developing countries, and dismantled to extract valuable metals for reuse despite the cost of catastrophic environmental degradation and health hazards, rendering the town as a landscape of slow violence.

What’s next?

Hastened by advancement in human intelligence and consumerism, new technologies are continually launched into the market with

increasing speed, further speeding up the cycle of electronics obsolescence. Furthermore, the discrepancy between physical size of electronics and their intelligence capability and intangible storage capacity becomes greater and greater.

In the consumer world, a large population is now ‘technostalgic’. Tired of chasing after the ephemeral techno-cycle, these people develop an urge to look back to the past, to recall memories and experience tangible things once again. They started to question ‘what’s before?’ On the other hand, with the exponential growth of obsolete waste entering Guiyu, workers can no longer catch up with the speed. Robots now replace humans to work on the never-ending volumes of e-waste. The town becomes a no-man land, a landscape of robots as well as strange animals that are geneticallymutated to adapt to toxic environments. Despite the dystopian quality, the toxicity, strangeness, and obsolete collections attract a new kind of tourism from the consumer world. Guiyu becomes a‘wonderland’ for ‘technostaglic’ consumers to come consume their past. Meanwhile, curious scientists find new breeds of microorganisms in the mist of toxicity. In this ‘wonderland’, even obsolescence has an afterlife, as long as there are consumers.

-----This thesis attempts to speculate a future projected by reality, taking advantage of the projective quality of architecture and exploring the use of architecture as a narrative device. Taking the format of fiction, it attempts to spark conversation across disciplines about humanity in the age of anthropocene.

[ OBSOLESCENCE AFTERLIFE- THE MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPE IN GUIYU, CHINA ]

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EUROPEAN UNION

SOUTH KOREA

JAPAN

CHINA

KARACHI, PAKISTAN GUIYU, CHINA INDIA THAILAND

ACCRA, GHANA

LAGOS, NIGERIA SINGAPORE

AUSTRALIA

IRON

CHROME

TIN

MANGANESE

SILVER

COPPER

ALUMINIUM

KNOWN SOURCES

TITANIUM

NICKEL

LEAD

KNOWN DESTINATIONS

LITHIUM

ZINC

GOLD

SUSPECTED DESTINATIONS

METAL MINES

E-WASTE

[ GLOBAL FLOW OF ELECTRONIC WASTE IN RELATION TO METAL MINES ]

IRON

CHROME

TIN

MANGANESE

SILVER

COPPER

ALUMINIUM

KNOWN SOURCES

TITANIUM

NICKEL

LEAD

KNOWN DESTINATIONS

LITHIUM

ZINC

GOLD

SUSPECTED DESTINATIONS

METAL MINES

E-WASTE

UNITED STATES

EUROPEAN UNION

UNITED STATES SOUTH KOREA

JAPAN

CHINA

MEXICO

KARACHI, PAKISTAN GUIYU, CHINA

MEXICO

INDIA THAILAND

ACCRA, GHANA

LAGOS, NIGERIA SINGAPORE

BRAZIL

BRAZIL AUSTRALIA

MINING FOR METAL

MANUFACTURING OF ELECTRONICS

0 months

1 months

ELECTRONIC ENTER CONSUMER MARKET

2 months

GOT OUTDATED AND DISCARDED

36 months

7

E-WASTE RECYCLING OFFSHORE

REUSABLE METAL COMPONENT

37 months

38 months

FEED BACK INTO ELECTRONIC INDUSTRY

6

[ E-WASTE CYCLE IN PEARL RIVER DELTA ]

THE FLOW OF OBSOLETE ELECTRONICS The Pearl River Delta in Southern China, known as the World’s Workshop, is a major manufacturing base for products such as electronics, toys, garments and textiles, plastic products, and a range of other goods. Much of this output is invested by foreign entities and is geared for the export market, accounting for nearly five percent of the world’s goods in 2001. This Golden Delta of Guangdong is not only important because of its manufacturing significance, but also is the major entrance for the world’s electronic waste.

Electronic waste from all over the world are commonly shipped to Southern China through the port in Hong Kong, then trucked to Guiyu Town, known as “the e-waste capital of the world” to be processed and dismantled. The city employs over 150,000 e-waste workers that work through 16-hour days disassembling old computers and recapturing whatever metals and parts they can reuse or sell.

The thousands of individual workshops employ laborers to snip cables, pry chips from circuit boards, grind plastic computer cases into particles, and dip circuit boards in acid baths to dissolve the lead, cadmium, and other toxic metals using informal processes. Others work to strip insulation from all wiring in an attempt to salvage tiny amounts of copper wire. Ignorant of the hazard of heavy-metal pollution, unusable debris are then either informally dumped in the town and river or burned openly, causing devastating environmental and health issues.

For the valuable metals extracted, they are trucked to neighboring industrial cities such as Chenghai, Donguan, Foshan, Guangzhou, Zhongshan, Shenzhen to be reused in manufacturing industries including the manufacturing of toy, electronics, electrical appliances and automobile. Products manufactured are then agained exported to the consumer world globally. In this sense, the Pearl River Delta of Guangdong has become a crucial global hub that anticipates the cycle of electronics production, obsolescence, re-cycling and reproduction.

TOP INDUSTRY PER CITY

HEALTH TECH.

COMPUTER SOFTWARE

COMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT

ELECTRONICS

ELECTRICAL APPLICANCES

AUTOMOBILE

TOY MANUFACTURING

PRINTING

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I RA ED PE H S EN HIG XIAM TO

JIEYANG

JIEYANG CHAOSHAN AIRPORT

SHANTOU UNIVERSITY

SHANTOU

SPECIAL ECONOMI population: 14,000,0

PUNING

+ + + +

GUIYU ZHEN

LONG HISTORY OF HERBAL MEDICINE INDUSTRY

HIGH FRO SPEED M SH R ENZ AIL HEN

+ HAOJIANG

+

+ CHAOYANG

CHAONAN

+

HISTORIC ATTRACTIONS RESORT

+

+ ++ + +

+

‘BATHING BEACH’

RICE PADDY/ FISH FARM

XIANHU SCENIC AREA

HAIMEN ZHEN

FUTURE SCENIC AREA

HEPING DAFENG SCENIC AREA

LIANGHUA PEAK SCENIC AREA

HAIMEN ZHEN BREEDING FARM

DONGSHAN SCENIC AREA

QUESHI SCENIC AREA

[ IMPACT OF GUIYU AT WATERSHED LEVEL ]

CHENGHAI TOWN OF TOY MANUFACTURING - reuse metal from GUIYU

MILITARY AIRPORT

IC ZONE 000

RESORT

+

RESORT

QINGYUNYAN SCENIC AREA

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[ VILLAGES OF E-WASTE WORKSHOP IN GUIYU TOWN ]

HEALTH RISKS IN GUIYU A 2008 study titled “Heavy Metals Concentrations of Surface Dust from E-Waste Recycling and Its Human Health Implications in Southeast China” examined environmental and human health risks in Guiyu by collecting dust samples from workshops, roads, a schoolyard and an outdoor food market that sells fish, vegetables and meat. The study found that in the workshops, there were elevated levels of Lead, Copper and Zinc. In the schoolyard, there were elevated levels for Lead and Copper. Other areas near the school also contained extremely high levels of Nickel, in areas where children often eat. In the food market, there were high levels of Copper, Nickel, Lead and Zinc, which is concerning because the food likely comes into contact with this contaminated dust.

Lead and Copper in road dust were 330 and 106, and 371 and 155 times higher, respectively, than non e-waste sites located 8 and 30 km away.

High metal levels at the schoolyard and food market showed that public places were adversely impacted.

Out of all the metals found, there was the greatest amount of lead consistently present at all locations, and Copper was the second highest. Levels of lead for a workshop employee exceeded the “safe” amount of oral lead ingestion by 50 times. Lead levels for the general public were 5 times lower than those for e-waste workers, but was still higher than the “safe” amount. Children, who face great adverse effects from lead poisoning, face a potential health risk at all locations 8 times higher than adults.

Children under the age of 6 are especially vulnerable to lead poisoning, which can severely affect their mental and physical development or even be fatal.

Lead can result in irreversible brain damage to their still developing brains. Some symptoms of lead poisoning in children include loss of appetite, weight loss, fatigue, stomach pain, vomiting, constipation and learning difficulties. Symptoms in adults include high blood pressure, decline in mental functioning, pain/numbness of extremities, muscle weakness, headache, stomach pain, memory loss, mood disorders and fertility problems including higher probability of miscarriages. For both children and adults, lead poisoning can result in damage to the kidneys and nervous system.

13

14

first abnormal animal reported

2001 first documented in film, exporting harm, by basel action network

electronic recycling industry took shape

l

ta u to

desirable unhealthy for sensitive groups unhealthy hazardous HUMAN LIMIT

2005

2000

1995

guiy

[ TIMELINE OF SLOW VIOLENCE]

migrant workers can no longer catch up with the speed of incoming e-waste, robots replaced human to speed up dismantling process

ast

e-w

ts bo ro

tourists from consumer world

150,000

e

scientists come to investigate geneticallymutated animal

st

on

lati

200,000

wa

high-speed rail built to transport e-waste from major city & ports to guiyu

dock built - dock for life support recharge - labs for toxicity survival research

100,000

e-

2013 shenzhenxiamen high speed rail completed

pu l po

15

50,000

e ork e w

10,000

2050

2045

2040

2025

2020

2015

2010

rs {million pounds}

5

10

15

inc

omi

life support needed water

soil

air

ng

e-w

20

ast

e 25

30

16

[ GUIYU TOWN IN 2020 ]

[ GUIYU TOWN IN 2040 ]

17

18

[ ANATOMY OF THE DOCK FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND LIFE SUPPORT ]

[POSSIBLE WORLD LABORATORY] AIR STORAGE

SUPERFOOD

TOXIC-ADAPTIVE PLANT

[CLEAN AIR TRANSPORTED FROM REMOTE AREA PUMPED INTO AIR STORAGE POCKET]

SCIENTISTS LIVING QUARTER

4 MOVING PLATFORM

[transport tourists to field]

FUEL

3 SUIT ROOM

[acquire life support]

2 VESTIBULE

[ensure air-tight from toxicity]

1 ARRIVAL FROM HIGH SPEED RAIL

5 BODY SUIT RECHARGING DOCK

BASIC PROTECTION -

seating upgrade +$$$

movie/music upgrade +$$$$$$

fit membrane +$

seating & table upgrade +$$$$

wheel+gps upgrade +$$$$$$$

LIFE SUPPORT - INFLATABLE ENCLOSURE

extra capacity +$$

lighting upgrade +$$$$$

bed upgrade +$$$$$$$$

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AVAILABLE UPGRADES

[ AIR AS COMMODITY ]

20

[ ROBOTS ]

[ HIGH SPEED E-WASTE TRAIN ]

21

22

[ ARCHITECTURE AS LIFE SUPPORT ]

[ MUTATED ANIMALS ]

23

24

[ LANDSCAPE OF ANTHROPOCENE ]

[ DYSTOPIA TOURISM ]

25

[ EVER-GROWING PIPES IN SEARCH OF SAFE WATER, AS WATER IS OLDER IN AGE AND THUS CLEANER DEEP DOWN ]

26

[ AGAIN, SCIENTISTS ARE THE HERO ]

[ SUPER FOOD LAB ]

landscape of flasks, tubes and valves to experiment on superfood for human

[ AS LONG AS THERE IS TECHNOLOGY. NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR HUMAN ]

[ TOXIC-ADAPTIVE PLANT LAB ]

all the gears, pipes and mechanism needed to support one plant in this land of anthropocene

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[ LANDSCAPE OF DEBRIS WITH AN HERORIC LANDMARK ]

[ AS LONG AS THE TRAIN COMES, WE WILL GET THE BREATHABLE AIR WE NEED! ]

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[ ARCHITECTURE AS LIFE-SUPPORT INFRASTRUCTURE ]

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MODEL SPECIFICATIONS

Size: approximately ( 18” x 30”x 2” ) x 2 pieces Material: CNC-Routed MDF ( site) Frosted acrylic ( dock ) Wire threaded through arcylic support ( trainline)

[ OBSOLESCENCE AFTERLIFE ]

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[ THESIS EXHIBITION AT LIBERTY ANNEX, ANN ARBOR MI ]

35

Ka Yan TSANG [ Sally ] Master of Architecture Graduate University of Michigan tsang.kyan@gmail.com 425.922.3660