Machinarium

The submitted design, for example, explores synergies between a textile manufacturing facility, agricultural fields, and a sewage treatment plant to create what the author calls a “Machinarium” of mutually interrelated systems and subsystems, all working together to create a sustainable environment. The project thereby explores new architectural typologies which may transform the future of cities. Industry becomes a regenerative urban catalyst that blurs present-day distinctions between social, productive, and natural space.

Progress: By designing a textile mill on a sewage farm, the project establishes a new architectural typology which juxtaposes industry and waste. This may transform the future of cities: By redefining urban wastelands as productive nodes, the predicted 21st century crises of spatial scarcity and waste may be resolved.

Planet: Waste from the sewage farm is salvaged and re-used by the mill. Waste water is used for industry, agricultural irrigation, hydropower, cleaning and algae cultivation. Sewage sludge generates bio-power and is used as organic fertilizer for fiber crops. The mill also implements natural waste treatment using wetlands, which extend the natural riparian habitat and soften the industrial landscape.

As part of an industrial collaboration with nature, the mill cultivates algae in the treated sewage water on the site. Algae grows exceedingly well in the nitrogen-rich water and removes pollutants before release. Cultivated algae are harvested to produce organic textile dye and are used as fertilizer for fiber crops, feed for aquaculture and in bio-digesters to produce sustainable off-grid power.

The mill cultivates organic bast fiber plants instead of cotton. These plants require minimal water and can be cultivated without biocides or fertilizer. The plants actively contribute to their landscape by regenerating depleted soil minerals, and reduce the monoculture of conventional agriculture. Waste from the plants is used to produce byproducts like animal feed, biofuel, food-based products and building materials such as bricks and insulation, which are used to power and construct parts of the mill, reducing the need for external resources.

People: Textile-based skills training and fashion workshops grant access to trade-based education, encouraging community participation with the industrial landscape. Textiles have a long-standing tradition in Africa as a cultural craft, and encourage artistic expression and creative urban identity, leading to widespread urban regeneration.

Prosperity: The localization of industry creates new economic opportunities in Africa, competing with Eastern markets and establishing micro-economic potential for local communities ranging from formal employment in the mill to informal markets as a result of heightened urban activity. Industrial tourism also generates economic growth.

Place: Resources used by the mill are expressed as tangible elements. Water is celebrated as a life-giving resource.