Urban Recycling Intervention: Prototype Tooling for Transforming Waste Corrugated Cardboard into Architectural Elements and Building Components

Recent studies developed in the last decades have demonstrated an increased interest in the use of cardboard products as an alternative resource for works of architecture and structural engineering. However, there has been... [ view full abstract ]

Recent studies developed in the last decades have demonstrated an increased interest in the use of cardboard products as an alternative resource for works of architecture and structural engineering. However, there has been little formal investigation about reusing wasted corrugated cardboard that is routinely collected and recycled through urban waste structures, instead of employing new cardboard supplied by paper producing companies. As part of an agenda that is working on housing alternatives for urban poor communities in developing countries, this research explores methods and tools for transforming wasted corrugated cardboard for the production of alternative architectural elements and building components. This paper presents three types of methods and tools explored during the research, describing the criteria defined for the fabrication, use, and production associated with the tooling that have been developed. Additionally, the paper illustrates one potential application of the elements produced within a panelized building system.