Eco - logic cyborg: an urban waste recycler centre

Abstract

“As we unleash living forces into our created machines, we lose control of them. They acquire wildness and some of the surprises that the wild entails. This then, is the dilemma all gods must accept: that they can no longer be completely sovereign over their fi nest creations.” Kevin Kelly Johannesburg as a developing city is lagging far behind in the waste recycling revolution. Our systems as humans are usually wasteful and create by-products that only end up in landfi lls and threaten the prospect of future generations while the natural resources offered to us by Mother Nature are slowly running out. One of the main difference between natural systems and human systems; in terms of production; is that natural systems use a cradle to cradle concept; where outputs from one system are used as inputs into another system; where as humans systems apply a more cradle to grave concept, resulting in large amounts of waste being produced. This project aims to create a space that raises awareness about waste and where people can be persuaded to start looking at wast e as more that just by-product but as resource. The fi rst chapter discusses how ecosystems work in nature and how similar principals can be applies to reduce waste from human systems. The second chapter titled; Propaganda and Persuasion; discusses methods of changing people’s perception. If we are going to get people to start looking at their waste differently, it is sometimes necessary to be persuasive and to use propaganda. The third chapter looks at the different methods that have been utilized through time to deal with waste. The chapters that follow use principals that have been extrapolated from the fi rst three chapters to start designing a space that would, teach and raise awareness about waste.