Design choices:

2.Specific issues in the social context you were intending to address by your design

The first issue to address by our design is to reduce the volume of municipal solid waste
(everyday items discarded by public, such as grass clippings, clothing, bottles and food
scraps) going to land disposals. The city of Buenos Aires produces 5000 tonnes of rubbish
daily, comprised of:

Organic waste 41.2%

Paper and Cardboard 16.4%

Plastic 12.8%

Toxic remains (aerosol bottles and cosmetics) 9.6%

Furniture and wooden objects 8.7%

Glass bottles 5.4%

Nappies 4.6%

Metal 1.3%

As a result of this table our design should focus on the recycling of materials with a higher
percentage occurrence as to reduce their over-appearance in landfills. For there to be a visible
decline in the volume of waste in landfills, it would be wise to choose to recycle: organic
wastes, paper and cardboard or plastics.

The quality and style of housing in Argentina vary considerably according to location and
economic status. The lowest quality and style of housing is a corrugated metal shack, typical
of shantytowns (irregular, low-cost dwelling towns). These shantytowns are referred to as
villas miserias ( the neighborhood of misery). They are often identified by the absence of
basic public services such as health care, education, water supply networks and social
services. Many take shelter in abandoned buildings largely inhabited by rural migrants who
have little choice but to reside on the unoccupied land that is otherwise undesirable. This way
of life constitutes a significant amount of the housing in Argentina. A specific example is villa
31, in the heart of the city of Buenos Aires. This villa, pictured below, is suffering from
overcrowding and some of the precarious buildings now have three and four floors, lacking
the appropriate foundations, and some have collapsed or are in the process of collapsing. With
this is mind; our design should increase the living standards of so many Argentinian
communities in run-down, falling apart houses surrounded by rubble of the poor
surroundings.
 Figure 3.2.1 Villa 31

The stream of Canada de Gomez is located in Santa Fe, Argentina. The streams natural beauty
and condition has been corrupted due to overcrowding, the creation of a public dump near the
stream and surrounding industries dumping toxins into the stream. From this information we
could base our design on improving the quality of water in the stream by making a filter out
of a recycled material. On November 22 nd 2000, a catastrophic flood impacted citizens near
and far from the stream. The flood was caused in part by a poor hydraulic system used to
manage the stream. To be considered was whether we could make a prototype of a hydraulic
system for the assessment and what sorts of recyclable materials could be used to make the
system. Also to be taken into consideration is the demand for filters and hydraulic systems for
streams.

With the 2001 economic crisis in Argentina thousands of factories across the country were
forced to close, leaving many people unemployed. This crisis is still in affect with a study, in
2013, revealing 30% of the population in Argentina is living below the poverty line, which
was stipulated as 6 pesos per person per day ($1.30AUD). Therefore, we intend to create new
work opportunities for the Argentinian public by creating factories where the design can be
manufactured. Also, the design must generate a new source of income for the Cartoneros of
Argentina. After collecting paper, cardboard, plastic bottles and any other valuable
rubbish found on the streets, the Cartoneros could then sell to us the required material to
make the design product.
3.A design matrix detailing the factors you took into consideration in your final choice of
design

1. Preliminary designs - and how/why you decided not to progress with these:

Waste Plastic Pyrolysis (converting waste plastics into fuels)

Improving the quality of the shredders

Extruding of bottle tops into new products