BA Studios from the Design Academy Eindhoven

ID RESOLUTION | SESSION AUG2021

BACKGROUND

STUDIO THINKING HANDS

While people are busy running around in the world of virtual electronics, will that stop people's thoughts and explorations one day in the future? While all activities of the day, work, study and socializing are trapped by electronics, will people become more and more distant from the real world?

A short break from the busy electronic life, freeing the mind to explore and discover new things with hands, and to express our thoughts in this way. This is the central idea of Studio Thinking Hands as I understand it, and it is also my main direction this semester.

MINDMAP I started with some ideas as a starting point, but after my analysis, I found that most of these ideas had connectivity with the keywords "everyday" and "waste". Therefore, I decided to move on from this to examine the key point of 'daily waste'.

RESEARCHES | STATISTIC OF FOOD WASTE

We can easily get to the statistics from the local newspaper, which in there are 38 thousand tons of domestic waste being produced daily in Malaysia. Among all the categories of waste, 45% are food waste. (The Star)

WHAT IS FOOD WASTE?

According to Thi et al. (2015); Lim et al. (2016), food waste are classified into 3 categories:-

1. Food losses

• whether from the stage of preparation, processing and production in the food supply chain

2. Avoidable food waste

• the food is still edible food but being wasted intentionally

3. Unavoidable food waste

• such as fruit peel, bones and other kitchen scraps that cannot be consumed

Within all the food waste, around 76% are unavoidable. In addition, the unavoidable food waste mostly came from the household but the waste will be sent to landfill by next which will seriously cause the global warming issue.

CAUSE

In my opinion, this is evidence showed that there is a blind spot in public thinking and lack of publicity about unavoidable food waste. People have always been told to avoid food waste when eating but there is seldom to show people that the way to avoid the unavoidable food waste. I reckon that lack of research and study would be the cause and I also believed that this was the opportunity to start my exploration.

AIM & OBJ To release the issue, my aim in this project is to raise people awareness and objective that people could be able to well classify food waste and cultivate the interest in exploring the potential value of the unavoidable food waste rather than throw it away. And I believe that the outcomes could become new things and be used in different fields.

EXPLORATIONS | CASE STUDIES

Unavoidable food waste is always being seen as waste that is unavoidable and worthless, but is this really the case? Is unavoidable food waste really unavoidable?

To ensure a smooth exploration afterwards, I started with some case studies on other exploring journeys. There are some people who used unavoidable food waste to recycle and reuse as construction material, solar panels, paper and so on.

EXPLORATIONS | RESEARCHES PROGRESS RESULTS

After that, I had decided to use the lemon peels, which I could easily get, as my exploration object and did some academic research (professional technical processes and ingredients and their functional effects) as supporting views. In the beginning, I tried different ways to get the peels off it like ground into powder or cut into pieces so that I could get them in different forms. I did try to use different ways to explore such as boiling, put into microwave or freeze or burn it and mixed with other combinations like sugar, salt, vinegar, flours and used toilet paper roll as well. However, I then found that they will become mould and even maggot in the situation of didn’t completely remove the water and keeping them under the room temperature (24°~33°) for few days.

To solve this issue, I tried to look into other unavoidable food waste which could help in avoiding the mould happened. Fortunately, I found that eggshells could keep out bacteria and dust. After studying eggshells, I then tried to explore the lemon peels and eggshells and the CaCO3 powder. If only the lemon peels, could easily get moulded; if only the eggshells, the eggshells are not able to stick together. Hence, I assume that the lemon peel could work well together with eggshells. In this case, the lemon peels as adhesive and the eggshells help in keeping out bacteria, they could stick together and come out with a special roughness texture with the good smell of lemon and the smell can maintain between 2-3weeks. However, they will split into chunks with powdered. Therefore, I reckon that if add on the adhesive then it might be a possibility successful and could use as part of my building design.

Unexpectedly, an early result which used lemon peels boiling together with sugar, successfully stick into a block and the smell can actually last up to more than 3 months (lasting until now). Consequently, I tried to mix the lemon peels, eggshells, CaCO3 powder, and sugar together and subjected them to some treatment, such as refrigeration until the water evaporates, then placed in an air fryer to evaporate the water and then compressed. The result was surprised me and made me decide to apply it in my design.

BUILDING PROGRAM | CASE STUDY

For the building program, I had also done a case study on a program launched by Sunway group, “Food CPR – Compost, Plant, Reduce”. They had provided a food compost machine in the Sunway Mall so the residential surrounding can get there to exchange their waste into eco-friendly compost. Besides that, they also held the event to raise awareness and shared with people the way of making their own self food waste compost at home. Sunway group also had provided educational programs for students and they will share about the Sunway waste system.

CLIENT Next, the client in this project would be Food for Soul. It is a cultural project to shine a light on the invisible potential of people, places and food which is based in Italy but also found in other countries. They mainly focus on 3 programs:-

1. Refettorios

• which means to re-make or to restore

• where people in situations of social and economic vulnerability are served nutritious meals cooked with surplus ingredients that would have otherwise been thrown away

2. Learning network

• a global community for empowered actors

• provide opportunities, aim to raise awareness, to be volunteer, to support refettorios, and influential voice for change

3. Innovation hub

• the interconnection of different disciplines

• provide a virtual forum to showcase research study, ensure program efficacy and engage educational opportunities

The reason I choose Food for Soul as my client but not other local associations is because most of the local associations are focusing on providing meals for the disadvantaged group of people by remaking the food waste. But Food for Soul also encourages people to share and explore the values of food waste on the other hand.

LOCATION | SITE ANALYSIS

I decided to apply at NZ Wheels Sdn Bhd (Brabus Bangsar) which is located in the city centre and surrounded by commercial and residential areas. To the east, there are two shopping malls (Bangsar Village and Bangsar Village II) and many restaurants (shophouses). To the south, there is a commercial area surrounded by residential areas. Many restaurants and TMC Bangsar (supermarket) can be found there. A little further away is an urban community farm & garden called Kebun-Kebun Bangsar. It is free to enter, family-friendly all made possible by the work of volunteers and donations from visitors. In addition, these crops are donated to soup kitchens and the underprivileged around the city as a way to give back to their community and ensure that they also have access to fresh produce. To the west are an abandoned building and the Technogym KL experience centre. In the northern part of the site is a huge residential area. Besides that, there are also morning markets and night markets nearby. However, for non-residents of the area, transport will be a problem. Although there are 4 bus stops nearby, the circular route takes a long time. In addition, the LRT station is a long way from the site, making it difficult to reach the site.

PROPOSAL & TARGET AUDIENCE & PARTNERSHIP

In this project, there are 2 stable golden triangles cycle will be formed and circulated. To link back to the issue and proposal site, this project is decided to partner with Kebun-Kebun Bangsar and commercial nearby such as pasar stalls, shop lots and stores in the malls. Besides that, this centre also welcomes family-based residents to visit to raise their awareness and interest. They are also being expected to educate the new generation about the potential of unavoidable food waste and cultivate the habits. To sustain the freshness and experience, I suggested that this centre could apply seasonal sensory workshops to highlight the potential strength of unavoidable food waste.

CUSTOMER JOURNEY MAP

Residents are expected to get to know about this centre through community or social media. By understanding the story behind and participating in the workshops, they are being expected to cultivate the explored spirit and habits. In order to support the Refettorios and workshop, this centre also provides job opportunities for those experts from different fields and interested in contributing to society. They are encouraged to share their thoughts through a reality on-site research lab or virtual forum. Besides, this centre is proposed to collaborate with Kebun-Kebun Bangsar. To achieve the sustainable collaboration with Kebun-Kebun Bangsar, they are suggested to respond to environmental protection and provide the residues caused by the free fruit and vegetables provided. By then, this centre could provide a stable source of green fertilizations by recycling the residues. By providing food waste, pasar stalls, shop lots and mall stores nearby are able to enjoy a free assisted waste disposal service.

MOOD BOARD

Through this mood board, I would like to deliver the sense of chaos but with a vibrancy of colour.

RESEARCH | BUILDING PROGRAM & SPACE REQUIRED & EQUIPEMNT

BUBBLE DIAGRAM & MATRIX DIAGRAM & DEVELOPMENT PROGRESS

In the design process, I added the idea of one angle one shape. For example, a square shape from above but a round shape from the front. In this way, the central concept of this project could be expressed (thinking and exploring from a different perspective). I also tried to apply my lemon materials in my building design such as design into a block and so on.

MATERIAL BOARD

FINAL FURNITURE LAYOUT PLAN

PERSPECTIVE

FACADE

The main entrance and the signage are faced to the T-junction (Jalan Ara and Jalan Telawi) as an attraction. A windward water tank has been designed on top of the building to collect rainwater and to sand filter it. A piping system that connects the water tank with the water system of all levels for supplying clean water is located at the back of the washrooms.

GROUND FLOOR

Once the resident visitors enter the centre by the main entrances, they can easily get to the reception counter on the right. Door frames and the reception counter is made of lemon peels. The pigments transmission lift machine is placed as a spatial separation between the reception area and workshop area.

After the selection of pigments and fragrances, visitors could enjoy the different heating programs and apply progress at the RE.froming workshop and RE.define workshop.

At the end of the workshop experience, the outcomes could be dried at the RE.moval, the air-drying area located on the left-hand side of the main entrances. Visitors need to press the button on the wall beside in order to lower the drying pole. The water which drops down from the top would flow into the underground water tank through the holes on the floor.

In addition, residents nearby are welcome to get to the centre and discard the unavoidable food waste into the waste sorting lift. The waste would be transferred to the upper stair for reuse and research uses.

1ST FLOOR

Besides, the resident visitors could also join the RE.cycle, the waste composting workshop. They would not only gain the compost which they made by themselves, but they are also helping the environment at the same time. Visitors could get the specific tools from the cabinet and store the compost on the cabinet. The space is designed to be a vast space therefore the visitors could choose to compose by standing or sitting.

RE.fettorios is a workshop that transforms unavoidable food waste into edible food which is available to people in socially and economically disadvantaged situations. The waste would be collected from the waste sorting lift and be sorted again at the isolated area. It would next transmit through the opening and reprocess it at the pre-processing and processing area.

At the RE.duce, the waste generated at the RE.fettorios would continue to be utilised again and transformed into natural pigments. These pigments would eventually be transported in the liquid or powdery form to the workshop downstairs conveniently through the transmission lift on the right.

MEZZANINE FLOOR

REthink is an on-site research lab that encourages experts from different fields to join and work together in order to explore the potential value of unavoidable food waste and the results would be applied at the workshops downstairs.

The researchers could conveniently get the waste for research uses from the sorting lift. In order to encourage the researchers to share their opinion more from their professional perspective, the main working space is designed as a co-working space. Therefore, they are encouraged to work together and feel free to discuss at any time, even hold a meeting there. In order to let the space look more broadly, the roof floor is opened to the working space below as a balcony.