Wasted

Waste is a failure of the imagination.

Imagine if every new school building in Victoria was a sanctuary for native birds, bees and butterflies, drawing down carbon from the atmosphere, cleaning pollution from the air, providing fresh food and water, diverting wasted resources from landfill, generating energy and creating environments conducive to health and happiness of humans, plants and animals.

It is no secret that we are producing more waste than ever, but we are not just wasting resources — we are wasting an opportunity for designers to lead the circular economy by applying imagination and design thinking to manufacture locally with our abundant wasted resources.

The classroom has been widely recognised as the “third teacher” of our students. But in our focus on spaces that support instruction, assessment and the measurement of progress, have our learning environments lost the essence of the idea of the “garden of the child”?

The time is ripe to rethink how we build schools in Victoria to create great ecosystems, thriving local zero-waste economies and enriching learning environments. Let’s do more with less.

Studio Leader: Frank Burridge