It is inevitable to judge the growth economy from two sides. On the one hand, it boosts economic growth, but on the other hand, the wealth gap, material exhaustion, and waste pollution have been even more severe than the surface prosperity. The linear economy pattern is based on over-consumerism; each year, we leave behind an average of almost 560kg of rubbish per capita. The circular economy is in calling.
New public space is needed to rethink the principle of the built environment, especially that industrial heritage from a new sight, a more circular and sustainable way. The building in the city is no more needed to focus only on increment and entropy increase but in need of transformation and renewal. Besides, to adapt the old building stock into the future circular economy, we must also adapt its original spatial qualities, facilities, structures, and functionalities to a more circular way. Thus, there is a complexity of different layers of circular principles that matter.
The design proposal is to transform an abandoned industrial heritage in Wuhan, called Hanyang Iron Works, into a spatial recycling experiential museum, including speculative design and conceptual drawing in the architectural and landscape design. Based on circular economy principles, the design is developed on six layers: circular business cycle, pedagogy cycle, eco-waste cycle, ecosystem service cycle, re-cycle, and material cycle. The six cycles are clarified as chart flow in the thesis and then testified in the design phase. In the end, the design elements like water, eco waste, municipal waste attached to each layer will be evaluated to show its potential for the circular transformation methodology.The larger find is that when we start to renovate an abandoned building stock in the city, the matter we care about will be the social or cultural aspect and more from a more complex and multi-dimensional consideration for a circular future. To renew a building to fit into a new urban challenge is the substance of urban mining.
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My main purpose to create the ‘Renewal Monument’ is to arise discussion over the circular economy, and how this economical concept could be interpreted into several layers of strategies that could be directly applied to the building stock renovation and architectural mining projects. In the thesis, I have selected Hanyang Iron Works in Wuhan as the design testbed since I have done thoroughly site mapping and analysis on the site three years ago and found its potential to be transformed as a new recycling public space with pedagogical value. China has been developing fast in the industry and manufacturing, though there is high demand for better waste management and sustainable lifestyle trigger, to visualize the footprint of carbon in dweller’s daily living. The design will be like a circular thinking experiment to test the methodology called Layer grouping and sketches as a manifestation tool.
The method showcased here in a production flow chart is to navigate how the layers of circular strategies are generated and visualized. So from the starting point, it has been displayed as following:Business cyclePedagogical cognition for circulationBiowaste cycleWaste treatment cycleSustainable building lifecycleEco-system sensitive landscape cycleCircular thinking is a way to use systematic way giga-mapping out all related factors after the material exhausted or waste disposed of. To generate new value from the old matter is the substance of circular thinking and the form of a circle.The project will showcase each layer of renovation method on the abandoned wasteland and see how it has and will influence the future of the industrial heritage such that it could be reborn as a museum for circular development.
Fun fact about me: I am interested in spirituality and mysticism. Will we be destined to work together for a better future?
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