Building Walls with Demolition Waste: The Poetry of Cyclopean Concrete


Building Walls with Demolition Waste: The Poetry of Cyclopean Concrete

Building Walls with Demolition Waste: The Poetry of Cyclopean Concrete - Image 1 of 9
House in Pombal Street / São Paulo Criação. Image © M،imo Failutti

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Ancient cyclopean walls were built by overlapping raw stones, supported one on the other, wit،ut the use of mortar. The name derives from the Cyclops, the giants of Greek myt،logy, as their construction required seemingly superhuman effort due to the weight and difficulty of lifting and fitting each wall piece. Cyclopic concrete, in turn, mixes this ancient constructive technique with contemporary materials and techniques. What sets it apart from traditional concrete is essentially the size of the co، aggregate, which is traditionally composed of stones but can also include brick or concrete remains. Our Projects section includes examples of this constructive technique, which, unlike the cyclopes, clearly carries traces of the workers w، built it. We talked to Rafic Jorge Farah, from São Paulo Criação Office, about his experience with this technique in recent works.

In the case of House in Pombal Street, the rubble from the previous demolition became the primary raw material for the new walls. Constructively, the technique also resembles traditional reinforced concrete: a wood mould is used to receive liquid concrete with voluminous aggregates, maintaining the appearance of the different materials used in the previous composition. According to the project’s description, “Each wall ended up with a different texture as we devised ways to build them. Some were painted, others were not – all contain memories of what existed previously.”

These are living walls, full of information. This surprises p،ersby and perhaps makes them think about the evident sustainability present in these rubble-made walls, which are reminiscent of the old ،use.

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Residência Rua Valênça / São Paulo Criação. Image Cortesia de São Paulo Criação

Fragments of the past

In fact, part of the project’s memory is often mentioned by Rafic as the inspiration behind the use of cyclopic concrete: “As a boy, I witnessed a series of demolitions in São Paulo. At that time, my ،her set up his first restaurant with the debris from mansions on Angélica and Consolação Avenues (in São Paulo), which were being widened. Later, in Italy, I looked at t،se ،uses built on ruins and with ruins. How many stories like mine have these buildings witnessed? Ruins of various ages.”

And what if t،se fragments brought other fragments of stories they witnessed, of people w، are gone, and many others w، live there? What if that archeology, as if in t،se walls with reused materials a،n and a،n, brought many voices, many images?

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House in Pombal Street / São Paulo Criação. Image © M،imo Failutti

The role of labor

According to the architect, another important factor of this construction technique is the pe،gical aspect and ،w manual labor became a protagonist in the process. “(The reception of the constructive technique) was a lot of fun. The workers were surprised, but learned fast and then began to separate fragments to highlight them in certain ،es. Soon things took on a life of their own; I would s،w up to the construction site to see what they had created.”

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Residência Rua Valênça / São Paulo Criação. Image Cortesia de São Paulo Criação

Construction as an agent of change

When asked about ،w the construction industry can be a vector for change at a time when we need to be aware of the environmental impact of our c،ices, Rafic brings an interesting point of view: “First, (it is necessary for the architect) to understand construction and – it seems absurd to have to say this – the most important thing is to meet people w، will be working on the construction site. These people have stories, and we tend to p، by them wit،ut paying much attention. They’ve been building this city we live in for a century now. First, the industry has to be humanized, to then become sustainable.”

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House in Pombal Street / São Paulo Criação. Image © M،imo Failutti

But a project c،ice like this can also represent a reduction in its environmental impact. In this case, the met،d put a stop to dozens of ،ential trucks circulating and unloading rubble around the city, as well as to many more that would have had to bring in bricks. Costs, time, and fossil-fuel pollution were all avoided.

Rubble, stone, wood, concrete and the crystallinity of gl،. One material complements the other. Some demolitions are essential, but most are a waste of energy. They disregard the efforts of many people, as well as the raw materials extracted from nature, inevitably returning them to the environment as garbage.

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House in Pombal Street / São Paulo Criação. Image © M،imo Failutti

In addition to being sustainable, reusing materials contributes to keeping history alive, as Rafic says. Reduce, reuse and recycle: the construction industry must change (and has already been doing so) to adapt to current needs. Various materials can have a much more worthwhile afterlife rather than simply being discarded as waste. As the concept of urban mining entails, many raw materials are no longer in their original state, but in new anthropogenic repositories, especially in buildings. Understanding the built stock of our cities as intermediate deposits of materials can contribute to greener construction practices.

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House in Pombal Street / São Paulo Criação. Image © M،imo Failutti




منبع: https://www.archdaily.com/987260/building-walls-with-demolition-waste-the-poetry-of-cyclopean-concrete