NYC’s Governors Island has a new pavilion cast from 300,000 recycled aluminium cans

The cast aluminium pavilion which recently found place at Governors Island in New York City is catching eyeballs- not only for its design, a winner in itself of the Cast & Place competition but also for its make. The structure, designed by Team Aesop, is entirely made from waste: five tonnes of clay and 300,000 recycled aluminium cans melted and re-cast into profiles and forms of various shapes.

The team had initially designed a prototype to test the potential challenges out, as the method of fabricating crack-cast aluminium had never been done before, according to architect Josh Draper. The prototype came out to be useful and highlighted difficulties that would have been otherwise difficult to anticipate.

The team intended to design the structure solely out of recycled aluminium cans, but the alloy produced turned out to be inconsistent and of inferior quality. So, they decided to use standard aluminium ingots to ensure strength and consistency.

{googleAdsense}

“There were metallurgical and production issues that we couldn’t take on with our schedule and budget,” Draper noted. However, “this project prototyped a new method that has potential,” he added.

The City of Dreams pavilion, as the structure is named, symbolises beginning of a conversation with the general public on the right use of waste, structures, and light.

“We wanted to create a space for contemplation, to provoke questions about what material and waste can be, to invite people to touch and wonder,” Draper concluded.