Paper Recycling Mill
A Sustainable Education Center in San Juan, Puerto Rico

By the 1960's a sub-urban lifestyle had taken over the island of Puerto Rico, bringing with it cars for everyone and a culture of consumption. Today the population has grown with such rapidity that an uncontrollable amount of garbage is being generated. This is an overwhelming concern for an island that measures only 35 by 110 miles.

The goal if this thesis is to design an industrial building that takles the need for proper waste management on the island. The premise is to recycle at three scales: landscape, building, and material.

This project seeks to tranxform the former foundry, commonlyy known as Fundicion Abarca in San Juan, Puerto Rico into a paper recycling mill. By studying the correlation between "recyclable" buildings, cultural landscapes, and the recycling process of solid waste, a paradigm for a new sustainable culture can be created before it is too late.

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