D.W.D.P. - DenCity Wastage Disposal Propaganda

Hong Kong, one of the most condense city in the world.

The problem that comes along with a super-dense city is a huge amount of trash.

With the current consumption rate and with no recycling program in the city, 

Hong Kong Landfill will bee exhausted by 2018.

Hong Kong's current waste management system  

  

The major problem of wastage disposal in the city is that most of the process 

is hidden from general public, it is out of sight, and it is out of mind.

Therefore, this project aims to call an attention to high level of consumption as well as

magnify the whole process of wastage disposal in a way that is not hidden or unseen by

general public. Also become a didactic tool for people, to raise an awareness of the existing

issue of waste. Lastly, to become a showcase propaganda of new technology in waste recycling

management incorporate into house, upgrading the living standard of Hong Kong residents.

In this residential prototype, waste piping infrastructure is no longer place in the hidden spot.

The organic waste pipe will go through each module and act as an organic waste collector.

All tenants will be responsible for separating organic waste and put into pneumatic (air pressurised)

tube, where those waste will be carried to through thermal anaerobic digestion process and those waste get turn into energy which use for supplying the living module itself.

Living modules are arranged in circle, where each opening responds to the prevailing wind direction.

In the middle of each floor situated the non organic waste collecting point. The similar pneumatic tube system has been apply and along with additional object recognition technology for better waste sorting result. In this system, the tubes that act like a recycling bins have a color which are not merely address the different type of waste but also relate the waste type to its own value. For instants, the golden tube organic waste show the most value we get as a resource of our daily life.

All non-organic waste will be transport through ground floor 

conveyor belt to the community recycling plant. 

The digram shows the use of by-product from organic waste system 

and overall alternative wastage disposal in highly dense residential building. 

Site location is in the center area of Mong Kok district. The site is situated in the middle of cross

circulation of many type of people, which allows the architecture to perform at its full potential 

as a didactic tool for the community.

The ground floor public programs are developed according to type of users that coming into

its way. The design allows people to easily circulate through the project. Public program will consist of community recycling plant, recycling waste trading ground, event space, 

thermal pool and urban garden.  

Top view showing the overall project

Recycling trading ground situates near local market allows local people to come and trade their recycling waste.

Recycling installation art space situated near tourist attraction such as Langham place and Fayuan street market.

Recycling plant gives an opportunity for student from nearby school to come and visit.

View of ground floor conveyor belt and Urban garden that allows all tenants
to be able to grow vegetable and also fertiliser which
is a  by-product from organic waste management process will be provided for free.    

Public thermal pool that use the heat from thermal anaerobic digestion process
located on common floor area of the residential tower is opened for public.

The change of recycling habit of Hong kong people.

View inside each living unit showing kitchen area and organic waste collector.

THE WASTE CASE - MONG KOK, HONG KONG

Mong kok, a case study area for municipal solid waste management in Hong Kong. With 130,000 people per square kilometre and 26,000 households, Mong kok produces over 60,000 kg of waste per day. At present most of the waste get dumped at the landfill. With Hong Kong consumption rate,  it has been forecasted that landfill will be exhausted by 2018. Without formal recycling program in the country, how does Hong Kong cope with this problem? This is why I started a deeper research on city waste management by using Mong kok,a very dense community that contains high variety of building typology, as a focused area. 

Above: diagram showing population and waste consumption data of Mong kok.

Below: Waste travel diagram, studying how waste travel from inside the city to the land fill, along with economical aspect in each step. 

Furthermore, I study row of waste disposal in the city, involve identifying waste management facilities and more informal recycling program that exist in the city.

The diagram also shows the investigation of behaviour of individual dispose in public space. 

Looking at waste management facilities from the smallest scale. Public refuse center appears to be a result of unusual mix of program which consist of waste collecting spot, 24 hours public toilet and small park. In compare to Municipal building which hold the similarity in stacking of different activities. These analysis shows that in dense city, normal logic had lost its effect. The hybridisation and coexist now base on efficiency and benefit.

The next three diagrams are meant to understand the system of waste management facilities in terms of process and by product.

Throughout the research, I had found a negative aspects of moving waste out of the city that effects both economy and ecology. In the same time seeing a positive aspects and potential of having waste in the city and use as energy resource. Therefore, I see that instead of being an open loop,  the future waste management in dens city shall be a decentralising close loop within urban area.

Photographs:

waste disposal in small alley way in Mong Kok

Informal waste collecting system

Public refuse center on Nelson Street
 

Informal recycling program

waste containerising system

The 4sq.m House

Phase 2 of the DenCity project is a design experiment of small dwelling.

This 4 sq.m. dwelling has been designed under the idea of body movement curvature.   

Exploded axonometric of the house meant to show the activities underneath which 

determine the curve and height of the overall outcome. Dealing with the limited 

living space the minimum volume that considered sufficient for certain activity 

was adopted and used in the design as well. 

Images above portray the series of events in daily routine which corporate with the

transformation of the house itself to serve each activity. Moreover, openings in each 

spot have been determined by surrounding context as well as activities underneath in order to provide inhabitant the highest comfort as possible.

Movement Visualisation - Dispersed and Recombined

The diagram above is a result of daily routine analysis which focusing on the body movements and gestures toward the daily used objects. The set of body movements are arranged in circular motion according to the time of use. The longer of interaction period is addressed by the more of gestures in the set and the frequency is represented by the white bar next to each object. 

The study is not merely the volumetric posture of human body. In order to understand more about relationship between one and surrounding items, few more factors are also being analysed. 

The result has shown that some other element such as location of electrical outlet, strength of wifi signal and amount of sunlight emitting on the object surface are also effecting the way that body and object interact. 

After study all of the components, the above diagram has been created for further development. First part of the table above is the illustration of volumetric body movement created by overlaying possible gestures contact with one object. The digram clearly shows the occupied space that human body took up. The similarity in gestures and movement together with the effect of surrounded factor (electricity, wifi, sunlight), the lower table portrays the possibility of new type of space that combine those similarities into groups. Undoubtedly, infinite combination can be shaped by individual preferences, result as a endless ideas for new type of space.