From the instant an object is discarded from an individual s hand, to the centuries a civilization s debris is built upon by another, design possibilities can be excavated and grasped. This graduate design studio has explored the vast terrain of waste, its potential as a public work, a public place.
Garbage is a complicated business.
Waste management is piled high with economic, political, social and environmental issues. It is a difficult endeavor to understand the technical operations of landfills and the complex hierarchies of waste systems. This studio grappled with emerging technologies and developing science of dealing with landfills of the past, and waste disposal of the future. Along with local visits to the project site, the Ivy Landfill, we met with local consultants, representatives of the Rivanna Solid Waste Authority, the County Board of Supervisors, and the Ivy Steering Committee. We tromped through the overgrown debris of the closed Avon landfill, and visited the BFI transfer station in Zion Xroads.