For years the construction sector has been under criticism for its negative role on the environment, contributing to about 38% of global CO2 emissions from energy use in 2020. In South Korea, A prominent part of construction and demolition trash consists of polystyrene and other non-biological materials. Styrofoam also known as polystyrene, has over five hundred years of hibernation before it can be decomposed naturally; and since it is practically impossible currently, recycling as an alternative has been poorly embraced. As a way of curing this situation, Yong Ju Lee and a group of researchers conducted a radical experiment that has given birth to Decomposition Farm: Stairway, a new paradigm in architectural waste management.
Project Overview: Merging Architecture and Ecology
Also named ‘The Decomposition Farm: Stairway,’ the work completed in 2022 in Gyeonggi-do, South Korea is a temporary installation that etches waste decomposition into the very walls of architectural inheritance. This experiment was conducted by the Head Of Architecture at the University Yong Ju Lee – recipient of several awards for his sustainable methods and digital fabrication. The construction of the installation relies on polystyrene which is generally considered harmful to the ecosystem, but this time it is incorporated into a biocomposite.
In addition, the research specifically focuses on the use of mealworms or larval forms of the darkling beetle that have been proven to consume polystyrene and convert it safely without any harm to the environment. When mealworms eat polystyrene, the polyphenols in their gut help break it down, which is otherwise very hard. This method hints at the possibility of a paradigm shift in the future of construction through sanitation without traditional waste disposal systems.
Robotics and Digital Fabrication in Construction
The project “Decomposition Farm: Stairway,” encompassed a reliance on advanced robotics and digital design practices. Yong Ju Lee and his team utilised a 6-axis industrial robotic arm (IRB-4600 by ABB) equipped with a 1.5-meter-wide hot wire cutter, capable of cutting complex geometries out of polystyrene foam blocks. The straight-line design constraint of the hot wire cutter led the team to use ruled surfaces, a geometric concept in which each point on the surface lies in its straight line. Antoni Gaudí, a master architect of the late 19th century, also demonstrated ruled surfaces to simplify modelling for structures such as the Sagrada Família, before the development of digital design tools.
The application of digital models represented complicated computer-generated surfaces that were cut by a robotic machine without human intervention. The polystyrene foam was then drilled with many holes for mealworms to inhabit, ultimately, as worms consume the foam and excrete the undigested product of their feeding, nutrient-rich byproducts will help sustain moss and life, yielding a closed ecosystem growing from a quasi-rotting foam format.
Architecture as an Ecosystem: The Vision of Yong Ju Lee
Yong Ju Lee’s approach always involves challenging the limits of architectural engagement, bringing together ecological issues and innovative technology. This project envisions movement away from waste not only in its final constructed form but also to re-think the entire life of the building. The “Decomposition Farm: Stairway” situated in the park, includes a spiral staircase which provides an opportunity for humans to be part of the cycle negotiating architectural matters within a larger ecological cycle. The weathering processes of the installation gradually decompose it into the site environment and theorise the future of which built space can be part of the natural system rather than ultimately sent to a landfill.
Significance of Achieving a Carbon-Negative Building Life Cycle
A major feature of this project is establishing a carbon-negative building life cycle. Although carbon-neutral (or carbon-neutrality) practices are now accepted in a sustainable architecture workflow, the “Decomposition Farm: Stairway,” initiates a paradigm shift in practice through active removals of carbon from the environment conducive to deconstruction. It innovates a typology of architecture that dissolves into materials with environmental advantages to regeneration at the end-of-life phase.
Utilisation of recently discovered biological decomposers (mealworms), is an evolution of thinking (and practice) (sometimes) beyond reducing harm to the environment, to providing a net-positive system. This undertaking is much more involved than simply decreasing the industry’s ecological footprint; it has the prospect of contributing towards the ongoing regenerative models of balancing ecological systems. As architects increasingly begin to design based on partial or full carbon-negative practices, this experiment will help nurture future architecture to support a system of decomposition into life-supporting ecosystems.
Broader Implications for Sustainable Architecture and Waste Management
While the “Decomposition Farm: Stairway” does expand options for responding to polystyrene waste, it goes much further in redefining a potential embodiment of waste management within architecture. Understanding biodegradation and the creation of habitat as a part of the building itself prompts consideration for what the end-of-life period means to traditional concepts of the lifecycle of structures. Specifically, the design does not treat an end-of-life phase as a problem to solve; rather, it recognizes it as a contribution to the ecosystem (or environment).
The implications of this experiment are significant because it emerges with not just the ability to create architectural structures with negligible waste, but architectural structures that support waste and nutrient recovery. The first iteration of “Decomposition Farm: Stairway” is temporary, but it suggests its future form could be a biodegradable construction that is permanently affixed to a site—altering vastly how we think about constructing permanent architecture, especially related to creating waste. In addition, Lee’s emphasis on robotics and digital fabrication offers insights into construction tools of the future that may be equally precise and sustainable.
As the global construction industry efforts to find new pathways for reducing its environmental footprint, projects like this could inspire a future vehicle of carbon-negative construction. Ultimately, incorporating mealworms and biodegradable materials might provoke an architecture engaging sustainability and climate change on a mainstream level, working toward a regenerative arc of humans and the built environment with nature.
References:
- PA Editorial Team. (2023). ‘Decomposition Farm: Stairway’ tackles construction waste in architecture. Parametric Architecture. https://parametric-architecture.com/decomposition-farm-stairway-tackles-construction-waste-in-architecture/
- DECOMPOSITION FARM: STAIRWAY – Yong Ju Lee. (n.d.). https://yongjulee.com/DECOMPOSITION-FARM-STAIRWAY
