PLASTICOCENE

Consuming the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Location: South Boston

2017 Fall Studio Work (Group), Harvard Graduate School of Design

Instructor: Rosalea Monacella

Group Member: Mark Heller, Siyu Li

Much more severe than it seems, the accumulation of marine debris has become one of the biggest environmental crises. Also, not everyone knows that the issue of marine debris and sea level rise are two side of the same problem – they both result from the skyrocketing input for inexpensive consumer goods. This project aims to work on this dual program on a single site – south Boston’s reserved channel.

We envision a hybrid industrial-educational-residential site that could process marine debris (mainly plastic products) into stackable cubes, which could then generate a continually evolving landscape. At the same time, this landform could act as a barrier against sea level rise. The idea behind is that the production cycle contributing to climate change should be used to battle its own harmful byproducts.