Study Architecture 
ProPEL 
Author(s): Lochana Sainath Deshpande & Julio Diarte
Hannah Arendt says, “Our whole economy has become a waste economy in which things must be almost as quickly devoured and discarded as they have appeared in the world, if the process itself is not to come to a sudden catastrophic end.” The changing consumption pattern of people and lack of proper solid waste management systems are causing nuances and health problems especially in the developing regions. Disposal of waste should be definitely planned carefully; however, it is important to retrospect the raw material. Much of the discarded material still has potential and value to it and can be used for other purposes1. This negligence in terms of discarding materials often comes with the definitions and assumptions associated with the waste. Strategies to reuse, recycle, up cycle, repurpose materials should be thought of in order to reduce waste generation. Building and construction industry ranks third in global waste production and contribute to almost 40% of the world’s carbon emissions2. Materials that are discarded as waste by other industries can be absorbed into the building industry and add more value to it. Americans on an average consume 3.9 million tons beverage cans yearly out of which 2.7 million tons are landfilled and it takes 200 to 500 years for aluminum to fully degrade. Similarly, 4.3 billion bottles of wine per year are consumed and most of the corks end up being in landfills. The properties of both these materials are extremely suitable for building applications and have been used as façade, flooring, roofing systems. This research paper aims at studying and finding out possible facade applications by juxtaposing cork which is a natural material and aluminum which is a synthetic metal.
https://doi.org/10.35483/ACSA.AIA.InterMaterialEco.23.14
Volume Editors
Caryn Brause & Chris Flint Chatto
