Library of Urban Treasures
Basic information
Project Title
Full project title
Category
Project Description
Waste is a design flaw: our cities are large, man made material deposits. We have never had more metal, plastic, oil-based composite materials and minerals around us than now. Yet we exploit natural resources to obtain new building materials. The installation emphasizes reuse through using construction materials as service and not as products. Thus the material is used uncut and joined by rope to allow full disassembly and further reselling by the producer.
Geographical Scope
Project Region
Urban or rural issues
Physical or other transformations
EU Programme or fund
Which funds
Description of the project
Summary
“Linna-Aarete Raamatukogu”, Estonian for “Library of Urban Treasures” was our installation for the UIT-Urban Festival in Tartu. Our “parasitic” intervention was located at the forecourt of an abandoned and rundown industrial building, right in front of the ruins of Tartu Cathedral. A very bussy small street, used by cars, bicycles and pedestrians alike, runs by the place, leading towards the University and inner city.
In an art exhibition inspired manner, a wooden platform and steps were embedded between old concrete walls in front of the ruin and wooden beams functioned as exhibition stands for the artefacts. Only on a closer look, visitors could see that the colourful exhibition consists of milk jars filled with construction waste which was found across Tartu. Confused, many visitors started to search for the reason for this exhibition of trash. On the end of each beam a labelled mirror with quotes and statistics delivered the message “Waste is a design flaw!”. Our cities and even our homes are large man made material deposits. But we fail dramatically in reusing or at least recycling these materials, resulting in a more and more increasing exploitation of natural resources and a self-inflicted waste catastrophe. The aim of the installation was to sensibilize the visitors on the waste problem and encourage one to act upon it.
In order to not create waste ourselves from this temporary installation, we used all the wooden material as service - the wood was rented from Puumarket AS for the time of the festival and handed back to them after, in order to be sold as building material. The material had to be returned undamaged and not cut, nailed or screwed. We used yellow rope to only tie the boards and beams in place. Currently, part of the rope has already been reused in other construction works as ground markings. All mirrors have been cleaned and are stored for future reuse in other projects.
Key objectives for sustainability
The project dealt with the topic of sustainability and circularity in two different ways.
The first of which dealt with communicating the issues of construction sector's waste and raw material consumption to the regular inhabitant, bypasser and visitor of the city. As such, collecting the various construction waste from around the city of Tartu and exhibiting it. Not only the waste itself but also the state of the waste (crushed, dirty and damaged in other means) raised the awareness of construction sector's failures and the need to move beyond the linear economy. Even more, to transition also beyond the recycling economy and push the construction sector towards circular economy where not only recycling, but, firstly, refusal and reconsideration of the need to build and then reuse of the existing building stock, building elements and materials become the priorities.
Secondly, the project directly tested key strategies of the circular economy. The entire installation was built in a design for disassembly manner where the construction could be disassembled again in its original components without any damage. Furthermore, the timber used in the project (beams and planks) were leased from a local timber shop, meaning that after the use in the installation, the material would be going back in the shop and sold as previously intended. Such an approach led to testing new ways of joining the elements and designing with full length material. As the ways of potential joinery were explored, an ancient Japanese method was found in which roof constructions of houses were rope-binded (allowing the structure to move in case of an earthquake), this method then was used with a different aim in the installation.
Key objectives for aesthetics and quality
The installation explores a different aesthetic in the field of design and architecture. Over the years, during architecture studies students have been largely taught to read the project brief, create a conceptual sketch and then solve the use of materials and structural questions. By approaching architecture and design from the prism of circular economy, the entire design process is turned upside down and the resulting aesthetics of the projects gain a new and different character. The use of exposed connections, design with full size materials and further principles become the core and start of the design process and, as such, introduce a new aesthetic in the built environment. One might even say, the built environment becomes more honest and understandable to the user or bypasser, not hiding the materials or manners of joinery.
Key objectives for inclusion
In the rush for “more” we have ended up in creating an environmental impact that destroys the natural habitats, pollutes the natural environment and reduces the quality of life for humans around the world. With the installation we hoped to give place for people to stop for a moment and to reflect on the choices made, to enable a discussion on building practices that could reduce our environmental impact such as circular economy principles. This approach at the same time shapes a meeting place for the local community, welcoming everyone no matter of their background or abilities and hoping to open up the exploration of the circular economy also in the wider society and outside of the closed loops of industry professionals.
Results in relation to category
Through the project the circular economy in built environment strategy where the building materials are perceived as a service was for the first (or one of the first) times introduced in the city of Tartu. Through the process, the local timber provider could be introduced to the topic and, therefore, potential further exploration of the topic or collaborations could take place in future. Furthermore, the issues of waste in the built environment were picked up by an Estonian arts and culture magazine Sirp where the topic was further discussed. Moreover, during the festival days we had the chance to observe the exhibition visitors from a distance and experienced the accidental encounters and discussions arising from complete strangers.
How Citizens benefit
Over the three festival days between 18th and 21st of August the installation was to be found in the city centre of Tartu, in the courtyard of an abandoned building. Any bypasser could freely explore it and engage with further visitors. The benefit of such involvement is not one of short term, it is part of a larger process with society being introduced to the impact of the built environment on nature and climate. It is a small but needed step to raise awareness not only between the building field's professionals but also the civil society who are the future users of the buildings and therefore the “key actors”.
Physical or other transformations
Innovative character
Within the field of architectural urban festivals and temporary installations, the attention often is not laid on the waste created and finding further use for the materials involved after the event ends. As such, the carbon and material footprint of temporary projects can be extreme. With this installation we approached this issue and demonstrated an alternative. Furthermore, the provided alternative of “building materials as a service” approach demonstrated also economical benefits since the project costs could be strongly reduced by renting the material only for the needed days and covering the delivery costs instead of full material purchase.
Learning transferred to other parties
The potential of the installation learnings to be transferred to further projects and contexts lies mainly on three actors.
The first is the wider society to which the above described ideas were introduced in an easy to understand and physically to grasp manner. As such, there is potential that the visitor of the installation later on in life, when dealing with the built environment, will demand for or at least rise the questions of dealing with waste, potentials of waste reduction and further aspects.
The second is the building material provider who for the first time heard of the products as service approach. This opened up the potential of exploring this topic further in the future.
By combining the exhibition visitor (building user), the material provider and also the architects, there is potential to transfer the ideas explored in the installation also to the permanent building stock.
