Indra Liusuari

PROJEKT DEKONSTRUKT (DEKON) is a collective that critiques gentrification, housed in a Brutalist warehouse named ‘The Lagerhaus’. Its architecture is influenced by techno clubs such as Berghain and Tresor. Hence, DEKON operates after-dark akin to the nocturnal techno world. DEKON retrieves concrete rubbles from demolitions in Naarm's Southeast. After, a protest through projection art is staged. Materials are repurposed into furniture, later dismantled as materials for a network of collaborating architects. Products are sold exorbitantly in Fitzroy. Unsold pieces from each season are destroyed into debris for construction; a satire critiquing overpricing vintage furniture among the elite.

DEKON emphasises its quality of alienness in the context of Dandenong South as a form of irony - hence the omission of its site and interior contexts to preserve DEKON’s enigma. Essentially, the public is required to enter the facility to witness and understand what the collective does behind the concrete walls.

The audiovisual document that showcases DEKON’s architecture implements a style that is a hybrid of 8mm cinematography and VHS technology, accompanied by a dark ambient track. Its reminiscence of underground raves visuals is a deliberate effort to pay homage to DEKON’s roots in the architecture associated with the techno subculture.

DEKON’s reappropriation of Modernist architecture as its executive office is to problematise capitalism by creating an alternative hierarchy between labourers and executives. The rusty structure houses the executive office but it has no other function, as compared to the other open-plan chambers on the second storey of 'The Lagerhaus' that has no form of exclusivity. DEKON also utilises unusual terms to describe the areas inside to reinforce its unconventionality, both in its architecture as well as its programme.

This supply chain map explores both how Bunnings distributes their products in Naarm as well as how Bunnings dispose of their rejected goods. The map also explores how Bunnings Warehouse contributes to the increasing landfill sizes in Australia by dumping their rejected goods into a landfill in Dandenong South. This unethical issue was the catalyst for PROJEKT DEKONSTRUKT’s agenda to be Bunnings Warehouse’s ethical competitor.