Towards a Metabolism of the (im)material: Transformations of an Urban Sink

To minimize the negative effects of the built environment on nature, circularity has become an important path forward, calling upon us to narrow, slow, and close material flows. In a Danish context, an increasing number of examples of reuse and upcycling in architecture are currently seen. However, due to challenges of warranty, building law, and public awareness, along with the issue of finding buyers of waste materials, there are major constraints. Furthermore, we have been limited to thinking of applying waste materials to new buildings. Introducing the notion of the ‘urban sink’, referring to the notion of ‘safe’ sink in chemical engineering, this article explores ways to allow larger volumes of construction asking what role urban spaces could play to ‘circumvent’ some of the challenges that make it difficult to reuse construction waste. The article takes up the notion of an urban sink and tests it in a design scenario by way of research by design, applying theory and developing design ‘rules.’ The study uses chemical engineering concepts and combines them with tectonic architectural theory in order to address and juxtapose material and immaterial metabolic dimensions in the conceptualization of the urban sink. The article shows that the concept of an urban sink holds potential to increase the reuse of waste materials in construction — by linking the material realities of physio chemical processes to the immaterial qualities of space as engaging narrative in a social context. While the potential exists to apply waste material as urban space, still more research will be needed to refine steps and design ‘rules’, to create more awareness, and to find buyers, all of which would increase reuse.