Exploring the possibilities of discarded materials coming from commercial buildings

商業施設の廃棄建材の可能性を探る

Link is research project which is the part of the Semba Ethical Design Thinking activities. This project is focusing on discarded building materials coming from the demolition of commercial buildings as well as mock-ups materials produced in large quantities during the planning and design stages, exploring the various possibilities of recycling. It provides an opportunity to consider an ideal way to incorporate mass-produced and consumed materials into a recycling system.

Semba Ethical Design Thinking の活動の一環として行なわれたリサーチプロジェクトです。商業施設の解体時に発生する廃棄建材や、企画・デザインの段階で大量に発生するサンプル建材に着目し、新たな再生利用の可能性を探究。大量生産・消費されたものをどのように循環システムに組み込んでいくのか、その理想のあり方を考えるきっかけを提供します。

Current status of demolition and destruction of commercial buildings

商業施設の解体・廃棄の現状

Commercial buildings in Japan have an average lifespan of 5 to 10 years, from construction to demolition and disposal. Compared to offices and other spaces, the life cycle of those buildings is very short, which is one of the reasons why reducing waste and recycling materials is becoming a major issue. Buildings that were created with a lot of effort are being dismantled or demolished for several reasons. Even though they are still functional, they are being considered as non reusable. Through our project, we are exploring the various possibilities of recycling waste building materials other than material recycling and thermal recycling.

日本の商業施設は、施工から解体・廃棄までの寿命が平均して5〜10年。オフィスや他の空間と比較してもライフサイクルが非常に短いことから、廃棄物の削減や資材の再生利用は大きな課題です。心を込めて仕上げた空間が、まだ使えるにも関わらず、さまざまな理由で解体・廃棄されることへの違和感を起点に、廃棄建材のマテリアルリサイクル、サーマルリサイクル以外の再生利用の可能性を探りました。

Inherit the memory and atmosphere of the place as a new material

空間の記憶や空気感を新たな素材として継承する

By disassembling and reconstructing building materials that have lost their original functions, we are looking into the possibility of using them as new materials in order to bring out a different appeal while keeping the memories they inherited in the place they used to be. Waste building materials such as wood, metal, and bricks are crushed into small pieces and solidified with different degrees of granularity. The rough grains are used as materials that create patterns whereas the fine grains are transformed into pigments. These physical modifications lead to the creation of new expressions. Other than grains, the oxidation of the metal gives more depth to the expression. After those transformations, the materials are molded to create a modular system for a variety of applications, from furniture to wall surfaces. The ideas and the design process of this project can be applied to different contexts and with other waste materials.

Linkでは、役割を終え、本来の機能を失った建材を、分解・再構築することで別の魅力を引き出し、空間に刻まれた記憶や、その場所がまとっていた空気感を新たな素材として継承する、その可能性を考察しています。 木・金属・レンガといった廃棄建材を細かく砕き、粒度を変えながら固めることで、粗い粒は模様に、細かい粒は着色剤になり、複雑な表情を生み出します。さらに、金属の酸化は表情にさらなる奥行きを与えます。こうして生まれる新たな建材は、モジュールとして成型し積み上げることで、家具から壁面までさまざまな展開が考えられますし、本プロジェクトの考え方やプロセスを、他の廃棄材へと応用することも可能です。