As waste removal becomes increasingly difficult to handle and landfill space ever more scarce, cities such as New York, must become more resourceful in the manner in which they address their refuse. Confronting this problem, the project proposes a building in the midst of the metropolis for waste collection and processing, a “machine for turning trash into treasure.” The municipal Center for Harvesting Utility from Waste (CHUW) recognizes an opportunity to locally treat collected waste, breaking it down into its constituent components – organic substances, metal, paper, plastic, glass, and so forth – in order to exploit its content.

Read project feature in 4th Holcim Awards 2014/2015 (flip-book)

The top “Next Generation” prize went to Debbie Chen for “Trash for Use: Municipal center for harvesting utility from waste, New York, USA”. The project sees waste not as something to get rid of, but something to be embraced as a new resource for urban environments.

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The winning projects of the Holcim Awards 2014 for North America are at the cutting edge of efficiency and innovation in sustainable construction. The top prize went to a water supply and flood mitigation project in Las Vegas designed by Amy Mielke and Caitlin Taylor. BIG’s urban flood-protection concept for lower Manhattan was conferred the silver Award, and a zero-carbon compostable structure recently on display at MoMA New York designed by David Benjamin received bronze.

Greatly appreciated by the jury is the idea to conceive a new type of urban infrastructure that offers an answer to the problematic interplay of material flows in urban environments. In this regard, the project proposes to close a gap in the chain that reaches from material extraction and processing to consumption and disposal. Applauded is the notion to propose an infrastructure building devised to mine the city, an important node within the metabolic system of a fragile urban ecology. Lastly, the jury commended the clarity and beauty of the drawings and models presented in the submission.

As waste removal becomes increasingly difficult to handle and landfill space ever more scarce, cities such as New York, NY, USA, must become more resourceful in the manner in which they address their refuse. Confronting this problem, the project proposes a building in the midst of the metropolis for waste collection and processing, a “machine for turning trash into treasure”. The municipal Center for Harvesting Utility from Waste (CHUW) recognizes an opportunity to locally treat collected waste, breaking it down into its constituent components – organic substances, metal, paper, plastic, glass, and so forth – in order to exploit its content.