The project is based on clothes as a first material, that is recycled into banners which are reused to make eco bags. There are two major points today. First, the enormous amount of clothes that is wasted and of which 70% end up in landfills. The other 30% is being recycled through donation boxes but are sometimes reselled to other countries to make profit. The project wants to create a transparent circular economy based on a non profit production, as well as opening to homeless people who can take part in this process, hence increasing their social and environmental value. The building is surrounded by many printing shops and different banners/clothes stores. Clothes are collected directly in a shop, then washed, sorted and depending on their quality they will be retouched and sold as second hand clothes or shredded, sewn and sent to the print shops to print banners.
A new housing program at the top and working space on the first floors are introduced, as well as a large space for making banners on the ground floor and three interaction spaces between public and workers. A washing space with a small café, an atelier for clothes and a second hand shop. The program is made of small houses, each having shared spaces with double height and private rooms linked to the facade. A large courtyard that is the commun space for all the residents is also created and designed with a sloping wall. It enables the collection and filtering of rainwater which then goes to the tank on the ground floor. This water is used for the washing. The slope also contains the main circulation for the residents and creates social spaces: a kitchen serves the café and the cafeteria for the residents, a meeting room and small terraces. There are two entrances to the building. A first one from the deck to the shop and a second, one floor higher, forming a lower part of the building to the washing space. The inside and outside view of the green wall is the central part of the courtyard. In addition to its functional role, it also creates different experiences such as the circulation between greenery and the view from the kitchen.