Welcome back, readers; it’s time for the final installment of Reedcycler’s Believe it or Not. For this last week, we’ll be taking a look at an unlikely building material, as well as dipping into the massive world of recycled art.
Palestinian architects build houses from the ground up
History has a way of repeating itself, but a house made from dirt seems like a large step backward. Yet these environmentally-friendly structures are easy to construct – being made with mud compacted in bags, stacked, and plastered over – and provide a natural way to regulate room temperature during the seasons.
The one pictured to the right was made by a Palestinian architectural firm – Shamsard – in the city of Jericho, who also created furniture from trash. The materials were all gathered from the local area.
Giant angels of peace created from unused weapons
Lin Evola-Smidt set out in 1992 with the hope of creating art that would inspire peace. The Peace Angels Project was the result, creating monuments from unused weaponry. Materials utilized range from guns and knives to landmines and nuclear weapon casings. The aim of the art project is to perpetuate peace and understanding through the recycling of surplus arms.
Peace Angels have been placed in cities all around the world, and a thirty-two foot monument is being planned for downtown Los Angeles. The colossus will be cast from 100,000 weapons collected from around the state.
Decorative doors: 1000 doors cover building scaffolding
Artists often open doors to creativity, using whatever they have available to them to create their pieces. Sometimes they just use doors.
Choi Jeong-Hwa created his Doors piece using 1,000 reused doors. It was installed as a public art installation in Seoul, South Korea, covering the scaffolding of a 10-story building. Jeong-Hwa often incorporates everyday materials to his projects, finding everything to be potential art.
This post is part of the “Reedcycler’s Believe it or Not” blog series, which showcases weird waste-related stories. Thanks for reading!
CATEGORIES: Campus Recycling Waste Reduction