Casa de botellas

Ever since people have been concerned with architecture, they have also been concerned with the reuse of architectural components and building materials. Reusability of whole building components had historically economic as well as ideological and symbolic reasons. Today, as a result of resource crises and growing environmental awareness, we have rediscovered this custom.

According to several studies, these structures of earth-filled and clay-embedded bottle bricks have a durability comparable to that of conventional bricks. Their method reminds of the custom of the ancient Romans, who had a woven recycling system where household items such as amphorae were collected from private homes and stores to be reused in the construction industry like in terrazzo pavements or hidden as wall filling.

The hypothesis would be that in parallel with PET recycling, bottles can be collected from landfills and from the environment to make small utility buildings. For this reason, during my diploma I studied this technique and tried to improve its geometry. In this regard, I have built this hut where the bottles are connected in rows, and these rows are stacked on top of each other in alternate directions. The roof is also made of bottles, with the same system of the walls. In addition, I have tried with different binders for the bottles filled with rubble, the clay being the best as it would allow easy reuse of the bottles and is also a material that is widely used and easily available.

With this technique, although time consuming, one could lighten the PET recycling system until it becomes more efficient, or beautify the environment to make small buildings and structures.