Adaptation of industrial heritage and smart grid city as a way to sustainable architecture. The energy crisis and limited resources of materials once again supported my thesis of energy self-sufficiency and efficient sharing of energy in the city. The project perceives the problem of dealing with waste and demolitions as a source of materials. It shows the concept of zero waste, selective demolition, recycling and upcycling on an architectural project.
Cross-border/international
Poland
Czechia
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Mainly urban
It refers to a physical transformation of the built environment (hard investment)
Adaptation of industrial heritage and smart grid city as a way to sustainable architecture with zero co2 footprint and zero waste. The project focuses on brownfield sites, which it perceives as attractive locations, and transforms them into a new urban district, which become a catalyst for change in the urban network. The energy crisis and limited resources of materials once again supported my thesis of energy self-sufficiency and efficient sharing of energy in the city. The project perceives the problem of dealing with waste and demolitions as a source of materials. It shows the concept of zero waste, selective demolition, recycling and upcycling on an architectural project from the beginning of consideration to the solution of construction details. It uses the max re-use of materials and objects and passively enlightens society. The main content is the adaptation of an old factory and the new development of variably useful housing, which is built from 98% of recycled materials, alternative materials, waste and finds that there are many prototypes that lack verification or use. Using covid masks, chewing gum, recycled materials, silicon glass from electronics, etc. All of this has applications in the construction. In this way, we reduce limited resources and, above all, actively deal with waste management. Waste is not a problem, it's a resource. I want to build an energy self-sufficient house only from these materials and test it as a prototype. One day the situation "only waste and no resource" will come, we need to be prepared. It is a zero waste solution and an example of the circular economy in construction. Buildings make up 40% of the waste and as an architect I have a responsibility to solve it. The city functions as an organism of elements that influence each other, so I wrote a list of sustainable criteria for each element – transport, educational buildings, events, housing, etc. And dealing with excess and waste is prescribed everywhere!
sustainability
materiality
waste = resource
energy self-sufficiency
adaptation
My project appeals to the ratio of waste generated by human activity and the amount of resources. Construction is the strongest initiator of resources and waste generation. Therefore, I see waste as a potential main source of materials. The whole world is building, cities will increase and resources will decrease. Instead of the costly solution of landfills, we can find a way of maximum utilization of waste and build houses whose main material will be the form of waste material.
This idea and its spread can completely change the material mix around the world. Maybe even in space once. Because why not?
I want to apply the idea of building a house from waste in practice to the tiny house project and calculate that the LCA house was created on the basis of waste and thus reduces it.
The tested project Adaptation of the Braci Lejzerowicz campus is a composition of student housing buildings with variably usable community and commercial spaces in the spaces on the ground floor and on the roof. The roof landscape is designed according to aspects - natural space, energetic or social. The inner block functions as a public dwelling with the possibility of use 24/7/365. The underground parking consists of places for students, the cultural center of the factory, locals from the surrounding development, rentable space, or temporary parking for public transport users. Parking is enlivened by an underground sports field and an inline track. The old heritage-protected factory is adapted into a cultural center that creates interaction between people because the locals will take part in its creation using re-use re-gift methods and participation. The buildings are of passive standard and energy self-sufficient, carbon negative. Alternatives from waste materials and recycled materials were used in the design solutions. The entire project is based on a sociological concept and becomes a catalyst for urban change.
Aesthetic quality is reflected in the project through a new material collection and its application. In the form of glass columns from e-waste glass, recycling of bricks from demolition in the neighborhood and their use on the facades of new houses. The interior of the cultural center from the former factory will be equipped in "" with what people find at home. Which also creates social interaction of the locals. The architecture, its form, responds to the place and makes the cultural center of the factory stand out. The architecture has recognized support materials and the vast majority is from used recycled materials, waste or natural-based materials. Another point is the underground parking solution under the student housing. The entry points of the vertical communication underground are decorated with street art culture by local artists. Which again creates a feeling of studentism, people's creation, saving costs and involving local people in the interaction.
The public was not involved in this project. I only presented the project to some. The feedback has been very positive, it's a new thing for them and they see potential in it. Building an architecture that will not create unnecessary waste and waste will be understood as a new resource can change people's thinking about waste management. They won't waste, they won't throw waste in nature and on the street because they know that something can be built from it and it will push the recycling process a little further. People will be more careful. As part of the brownfield adaptation project in Warsaw, I also led the solution of the building in the form of participation, where there was an agreement on saving the building, its technical repair, and the subsequent organization of community startup events before the area is completed. The idea of adapting the building in the form of re-use and re-gift was seen positively. Everyone can bring a piece of unnecessary furniture and thus contribute to the building with their own piece of work and design. The interior can be a bit like a composition of things that people around had at home and no longer need.
The public was not involved in this project. I only presented the project to some. The feedback has been very positive, it's a new thing for them and they see potential in it. Building an architecture that will not create unnecessary waste and waste will be understood as a new resource can change people's thinking about waste management. They won't waste, they won't throw waste in nature and on the street because they know that something can be built from it and it will push the recycling process a little further. People will be more careful.
I worked on the project myself with the consultation of experts at the university. However, the university management did not support my PhD, when I want to apply the ideas from the thesis in practice. Czech society and the architectural coma are afraid of everything that is new and that they do not understand. In the environment it is difficult to come up with something new, people often make obstacles. But I have a basic concept and project, experts who want to support me. I have positive references from foreign companies from the EU, and hopefully I will be able to implement the construction over time. The next year of the solar decathlon competition will help me with that. So I'm working on preparing this event. If everything succeeds, then we can show that our efforts were good.
Regional knowledge consists of architecture, energy, construction, materials and naive belief in one's own visions and ideas. The project was consulted with experts. I always presented the initial complex proposal as a whole and discussed the parts more thoroughly with the given expert. There was a beautiful synergy, as I say. Architecture is a synergy of art and technology. As an architect, this way one can influence larger events in the world than just which house people will live in. The experience is positive in that I got support that building a typical tiny house from waste and monitoring it is a good idea, I'd love to try it. The building is energy self-sufficient, carbon neutral, aesthetically valuable plus "waste negative?" they reduce waste. It is another part of circulation and sustainable architecture.
An innovative approach consists of an overall thought process right at the beginning. I am not only dealing with the architect, but the entire material, energetic and detailed way of solving the building. Instead of revitalizing a brownfield, which is listed, only in terms of operational and architectural aspects, but also in terms of energy. We were able to create a carbon-negative architecture while preserving the historic value of the building. The new construction of student housing is made of TCC - timber concrete composite prefabricated modules. In both cases, classic materials were replaced to the maximum extent by alternative recycled materials from waste. The buildings have a negative carbon footprint and can still reduce the amount of waste because they are built from it.
The idea is very complex. The use of waste as a building material, its maximum recycling and the minimization of the creation of landfills. By treating each plastic bag as a resource, it can reduce the creation of pollution in the ocean, nature and landfills, as well as litter on the street. The new material mix can be used by everyone in the world, by every builder. I hope that my next project to Africa can focus on local solutions for the use of waste for construction. The idea is being tested for the adaptation of a heritage-protected factory building in Warsaw. The result is a multifunctional cultural center that is at the level of a low-energy house and is energy self-sufficient. The project was consulted with preservationists from Warsaw. It is an exemplary idea for all those who want to deal with other objects of industrial heritage.
My project appeals to the ratio of waste generated by human activity and the amount of resources. Construction is the strongest initiator of resources and waste generation. Therefore, I see waste as a potential main source of materials. The whole world is building, cities will increase and resources will decrease. Instead of the costly solution of landfills, we can find a way of maximum utilization of waste and build houses whose main material will be the form of waste material. As can be seen in my project, many materials can be replaced with an alternative and the resulting aesthetic form is not tangible. It has nothing to do with the idea that we will live in a house that looks like a dump. This idea and its spread can completely change the material mix around the world. Maybe even in space once. Because why not?
