Waste materials superuse and upcycling in architecture: design and experimentation

Abstract

The research programme on the implementation of circular economy in the built environment, whose urgency is acknowledged both at national and at EU level, works on two complementary approaches: reuse (superuse) and recycling (upcycling). The first, theoretical and applied to a pilot case, is one of the first attempts to transpose to Italy the waste materials scouting and harvest mapping process as part of the design project. The second, with the start-up Atlante Inerti Project, which, with EIT funds, experiments an original use of recycled aggregates for the production of urban furniture elements with additive 3D printing and prefabrication of vibration compressed concrete, developing mixes with convincing performances of interest for further applications in the building industry.

Keywords

• Superuse
• Upcycling
• Building materials
• Circular economy