3D printed street furniture recycles concrete and brick waste from demolished urban villages

"Construction waste from urban village demolition sites is treated through graded crushing and sorting processes. Primary crushing is conducted using a jaw crusher, followed by secondary shaping through impact crushing. Multi-layer vibrating screening then separates aggregates by particle size. Micro-fine powder (0-3 mm), accounting for approximately 30-35% of the waste stream, undergoes mechanical activation and chemical excitation."

"The developed material contains up to 85% solid waste, positioning demolition debris as a reusable resource within a closed production system. This localized cycle reduces transportation requirements and lowers carbon emissions while preserving material value. Through this approach, waste is not removed from the urban environment but reintegrated into it in a new functional form."

"Nano-suspension surface modification reduces aggregate water absorption from 8-10% to 3-5% and increases the strength of the interfacial transition zone by over 40%. Through these adjustments, BENTU DESIGN Studio addresses common limitations associated with recycled aggregate materials."

Inorganic Growth is a research-driven initiative that transforms construction debris from urban village demolition into 3D printed furniture through digital fabrication. Demolition waste undergoes graded crushing, sorting, and processing to create printable composites with cementitious properties. The material composition includes up to 85% solid waste combined with industrial by-products like fly ash and slag powder. Micro-fine powder and coarse aggregates are processed through mechanical activation and nano-suspension surface modification to enhance performance. The localized production cycle integrates material recovery, on-site processing, and additive manufacturing, reducing transportation needs and carbon emissions while preserving material value and reintegrating waste into the urban environment as functional objects.

Read at designboom | architecture & design magazine