Yi Zhang

Melbourne is shaped by the things we throw away. The project proposes a ‘Plastic Surgery for Melbourne’, through a careful investigation of the life cycle of polyethylene terephthalate and its architectural potentials in two selected urban contexts. Through modular plannings and formations of the recycled plastic, two structures are proposed. One for disassemblage and one for adaptability. Ultimately, this project transforms the constantly overlooked plastic waste into new architectural languages that not only offer communal and educational engagements, but also a new perspective to re-understand and re-purpose everyday waste to achieve a more sustainable future in the built environment.

Restaurants and local markets are major sources of plastic waste. Therefore, Chinatown and Queen Victoria Market have been selected as the site for this project due to their significance in these typologies.

The spatial quality of the pavilion and the food court is based on the modularity of the repurposed plastic elements. Roofs, columns, walls and furnitures. These possibilities provide insights into enhancing the affordances and durability of plastic through architectural interventions.

With a pitch roof to collect rainwater and a compress machine on site, the pavilion is fully prepared to transform the plastic waste as it own structure components and becoming a material bank for the upcoming food court in Queen Victoria Market.

As the food court becomes the remanufacture centre, it continuously produces more plastic elements for future addition of structures. Beyond the environmental consciousness, this section also reveals the communal and educational potential of the structure, as the architecture itself manifests sustainability and adaptability.