Rethinking waste - a study of the concept and handling of waste and wastespaces through the case of Pruitt-Igoe
Year: 2013
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Words such as 'waste', 'rubbish', 'trash' and 'garbage' conjure up certain problematic images for most of us.These are words that imply separation, abandonment, loss, decline and, potentially, failure and death.Yet they are an inevitable part not only of consumerist society, but of life itself, and cannot be ignored.In all societies, throughout history, there have been, are, and will be waste things, waste people, wasted lives and wasted time.However, nothing is intrinsically waste.Waste is the opposite of that which a society considers useful, clean, productive or desirable.Waste is defined by an order that is not absolute: though the existence of waste is constant, its definition differs from culture to culture, from time to time.Waste in relation to space can take many forms.Wastespaces, urban wastelands, drosspaces, urban voids, terrains vagues or dead zones can be found all over the civilized world, be it in the shape of former industrial sites, wild greenspaces, ruins or vacant lots.These landscapes, often considered problematic eyesores, represent the forgotten, the abandoned, the thrown away -that which is considered wasted.Can these inevitable waste landscapes, unwanted people and thrown away objects serve a valuable purpose in the otherwise increasingly homogenized and ordered city and in the lives of its citizens?Using the example of the growing wasteland left behind after the demolition of the Pruitt-Igoe project in St. Louis, Missouri, this thesis aims to explore the merits of waste and wastespaces, both symbolic and practical.Furthermore, it looks for possibilities and examples of how to retain these potential merits when redeveloping urban wastespaces, as well as incorporating the same values into the design of new public space.
Author: Åsa Berggren
Language: English
Subfield: Urban Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: NSW Ministry of Health
OpenAlex ID: W31498959