repurposed pallets form the winning design of tulum plastic school competition

archstorming presents the results of a competition to design ‘tulum plastic school’ in mexico. as the name suggests, the brief challenged entrants to envision an educational space using recycled and repurposed items such as bottles and pallets in an effort to stimulate discussion on the country’s plastic pollution issue. over 230 proposals were submitted from more than 50 countries and first prize has been awarded to daniel garcia and william smith of harvard university. after being selected by the international jury, their scheme will be realized for NGOs MOM I’M FINE and los amigos de la esquina.

first prize winners: daniel garcia and william smith

all images courtesy of archstorming

the winning project by garcia and smith uses plastic pallets as the base element of the design. the duo chose to utilize this item not only for its sturdy quality but also as a symbol of global trade exchanges. with a life cycle spent in transit, the pallet is put to use shipping other plastics around the globe. as a structural object, the project’s use of the pallet intends to avoids common tendencies to aestheticize plastic waste itself. rather than producing an amalgamated form made from waste or a highly refined construction product made from recycled content, the designers choose to approximate between these two extremes.

first prize winners: daniel garcia and william smith

sandwiched in between a tube steel structure and recyclable corrugated plastic sheeting on the external face, the repurposed pallets create the wall and roof build up. the pallets are threaded through the forklift channels onto a repeating bay system and grouped to form two gabled structures that pivot around a pair of courtyards: one can be seen as an extension of the classroom, the other is offered to the community. 

first prize winners: daniel garcia and william smith

encased in clear, recyclable corrugated plastic, the building is protected from the elements while allowing daylight to filter in. conversely, the structure becomes a beacon for the community at night. the form seeks to promote an architecture of multiplicities: domestic, industrial, traditional, and contemporary.

first prize winners: daniel garcia and william smith

the results of the competition convey the numerous ways of building structures using recycled plastic and repurposed objects. the finalist teams have proposed imaginative alternatives such as reusing plastic bottles, fruit boxes or plastic pallets and you can see the awarded projects and honourable mentions on archstorming’s website here.

first prize winners: daniel garcia and william smith

first prize winners: daniel garcia and william smith

second prize winner: david nee zhi kang

second prize winner: david nee zhi kang

second prize winner: david nee zhi kang

second prize winner: david nee zhi kang

third prize winners: iván elías barczuk, matías raúl falero, agustín flamig and adrián eduardo mendez

third prize winners: iván elías barczuk, matías raúl falero, agustín flamig and adrián eduardo mendez

project info:

project name: tulum plastic school

type: competition

competition platform: archstorming

first prize: daniel garcia and william smith

second prize: david nee zhi kang

third prize: iván elías barczuk, matías raúl falero, agustín flamig and adrián eduardo mendez

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: lynne myers | designboom