Re-Imagining Waste in NYC
B.Arch Thesis, May 2022
Thesis Advisors: Caroline O'Donnell and Katharina Kral
Manifesto
Each year, New York City produces more than 14 million tons of trash. Much of this trash travels a long distance to landfills or incinerators located as far as South Carolina. During the process, environmentally harmful materials such as CO2 are released into the living environment. However, the problem is not just the huge monetary value put into waste or the long travel distance taken to handle them, but about our attitude towards waste production and management.
The thesis aims to break down the current waste stream and decentralize the collection of treatment of waste in order to reduce both the distance and the cost of waste transfer. An affordable waste management system at neighborhood scale is introduced with waste-to-energy incinerators serving communities of approximately 300 blocks. Located at a parking garage in Brooklyn, these neighborhood WtE plants will be later expanded into other areas of the city. The project reveals the hidden layers of waste and transforms waste management into an everyday practice where all residents become direct stakeholders. In a future where waste might no longer be produced, these urban wastelands continue to educate people and monumentalize a ‘past’ we are currently living in.
View full thesis booklet here.
Neighborhood Incinerators
By exposing the layers of waste in contexts very close to our daily lives, the neighborhood incinerators would raise an awareness and an urgency towards waste produced. The map of NYC imagines a future when the waste management system is fully planted in the city, adding urban green spaces and continuously educating surrounding communities on the importance of waste management. Starting from a sample site in Queens NY, these incinerators can be easily adapted into other areas and grow into a system of waste treatment closely integrated into the daily lives of NYC residents.
URBAN WASTELAND
