Geographies of Trash

In the Age of Environment, the scale of waste management is geographic all while often relegating such undesired matter to invisibility as "matter out of place." Geographies of Trash reclaims the role of forms, technologies, economies and logistics of the waste system in the production of new aesthetics and politics of urbanism. Honored with a 2014 ACSA Faculty Design Award, the book charts the geographies of trash in Michigan across scales to propose five speculative projects that bring to visibility disciplinary controversies on the relations of technology, space and politics.
Rania Ghosn is an architect, geographer and partner of Design Earth. She is currently assistant professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Architecture + Planning. Her work critically frames the urban condition at the intersection of politics, aesthetics and technological systems - be they energy, trash, or farming. Rania holds a Doctor of Design from Harvard University Graduate School of Design, a Master in Geography from University College London, and a Bachelor of Architecture from American University of Beirut. Prior to joining University of Michigan, she was an Assistant Professor at University of Michigan. Rania is founding editor of the journal New Geographies and editor-in-chief of NG2: Landscapes of Energy. Some of her recent writings have been published in San Rocco, Journal of Architectural Education, MONU, Thresholds, Bracket, and Perspecta.
El Hadi Jazairy is an architect and partner of Design Earth. He is currently assistant professor of architecture at the University of Michigan, where he teaches courses in the architecture and urban design programs. His research investigates spaces of exception Â-such as institutional campuses, free zones, and city-states- as predominant forms of contemporary urbanization. El Hadi received a Dipl(TM)me d'Architecte from La Cambre in Brussels, a Master of Architecture from Cornell University and a Doctorate of Design from Harvard University. He is a licensed architect at the Belgium National Architectural Accrediting Board. From 2000 to 2005, he collaborated with Elia Zenghelis and Xaveer de Geyter architecten. El Hadi is founding editor of the journal New Geographies and editor-in-chief of NG4: Scales of the Earth. Some of his recent work has been published in Journal of Cultural Geography, GSD Platform, San Rocco, MONU and Topos.
"Exploring the relationship between architecture, design, trash, space, and urban environments, this work describes design methodology for representing political and economic geographies of trash and waste disposal. Five speculative projects for Detroit, Michigan, are presented as examples of architectural strategies to reintegrate waste management into the city. The book stems from "Research on the City," an initiative at the University of Michigan's Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning. It will be of interest to architects, urban planners, and urban theorists interested in raising public awareness of garbage and waste disposal and how to better plan for it. Color photos, art, charts, and graphics are included throughout. --Eithne O'Leyne, Editor, ProtoView
"Nobody wants to think about garbage. At least that is the assumption. But treating garbage as an "out of sight, out of mind" problem is not healthy - neither for people nor the planet. Rania Ghosn and El Hadi Jazairy's Geographies of Trash is a book-length argument for architects "to take on problems that had once been the domains of engineering or regional planning." The "Represent" section lays out their argument through essays and illustrations, the latter focused on trash in the state of Michigan, while the "Project" section presents five design scenarios for dealing with garbage as a building material or morphological element of urban form. Lastly, "Assemble" documents through photos the duo's installation that created a spatial object from their five projects. Kudos to the graphic designers at Thumb, who took the great visuals and turned it into a beautiful book." --John Hill, A Daily Dose of Architecture
"To expose the waste that society has for so long tried to make invisible, Geographies of Trash reimagines how people deal with refuse by bringing it back into the focus of everyday life. The book analyzes current waste systems of the state of Michigan and suggests five strategies for the design and reintegration of the state's trash for the Detroit area. By using design methodologies such as creating monuments out of capped land fills, recycling waste into everyday mate- rials, or remediating waste so that it can contribute to the health of an ecosystem, Geographies of Trash suggests coming to terms with a process that humanity will never be without." --Landscape Architecture Magazine
"A unique and informative study, "Geographies of Trash" is exceptionally well organized and presented making it an invaluable and highly recommended addition to professional, corporate, governmental, college and university Environmental Studies reference collections in general, and Waste Management supplemental studies reading lists in particular." --Paul T. Vogel, Midwest Book Review
"Landfills aren't a one-stop shop; disposal of our garbage follows human geographies. Geographies of Trash tells the story of waste, from the curb to landfill, taking us to Michigan, where architects have joined engineers in reconciling our garbage and our natural landscapes." --Metropolis Magazine