wastespace

Vieques’ landfill is nearly full, and women are largely missing from the island’s workforce. wastespace is a community hub that turns plastic waste into products, and trains women to make and sell them.

Role: Architecture and planning, with Rebecca Book
Product: A building and an island-wide network
Timeline: Spring 2019
Critics: Richard Plunz, Douglas Woodward, Ubaldo Escalante

Rendering of the wastespace building, a timber shed with a pink sign — **Fig. 1**The hub: a modern shed built from inexpensive materials found on the island.

01Context

Materials that could be reprocessed were going straight to a landfill that’s close to capacity. At the same time, women on the island had been systematically shut out of the existing labor force.

Charts of employment status and income in Vieques — **Fig. 2**Employment status and income in Vieques, 2017.

Axonometric of the downtown site and land use — **Fig. 3**The site in downtown Isabel Segunda.

02Approach

Plastic moves through the building in three steps. It’s collected and shredded, then reprocessed by extrusion, injection or compression molding on cheap, open-source machines, and finally sold in the store or shown in exhibitions: tiles, furniture, clipboards. Learning to build and run the machines is part of the program, and the building’s own interior finishes are made on site.

Diagram of the plastic shredding and molding machines — **Fig. 4**Open-source machines that anyone can learn to build and run.

Long section through the building — **Fig. 5**The building in section: collection, workshop, store.

Axonometric drawing of the building — **Fig. 6**The building, opened up.

Interior rendering of the workshop with people at the machines — **Fig. 7**Inside the workshop.

03Outcome

Collection points sit across the island, with the full building in one central place. A daycare makes it easier to take part, and a calendar of classes and events keeps the space busy beyond plastic.

Map of Vieques with collection hubs — **Fig. 8**Collection hubs across the island.

A month of classes and events — **Fig. 9**A typical month of classes and events.

Rendering of the courtyard side of the hub with families — **Fig. 10**The courtyard side, with the daycare and play space.

Photograph of the physical model from above — **Fig. 11**The model, from above.

Photograph of the physical model from the side — **Fig. 12**The model, from the street.

The project was featured in 13 proposals to boost resilience in Vieques, Puerto Rico.

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wastespace

01Context

02Approach

03Outcome

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