What a waste

Type | Exhibition/Workshop/Research        Year | 2025       Project site | Gent, Belgium

Collaborators | Verloeren Bekisting, The Dinner Table Method, Atelier Hyphen(-), Espace Lakas, Observational Error

Client | WD-40 / Funded by Culture Moves Europe and Stimuleringsfonds

What A Waste was a two-week residency, workshop, and exhibition at WD-40 in Gent, uniting an international collective of architects and designers rethinking waste and reuse in design. First connected through their studies at TUDelft, the group has since developed independent practices with diverse approaches to waste and material experimentation. The workshop emerged from a shared sense of urgency among the group to address the relevance of waste in contemporary design and among younger generations. The workshop became a space for exchanging methodologies, interrogating practices, comparing approaches, and exploring the diverse interpretations of waste among participants.

Key questions emerged: why prioritize specific material flows over others? How participatory or co-creative should a reuse-based practice be? Is a horizontal approach to collaboration necessary, or even desirable? How do we balance independent work with financial sustainability, research with application, and how do our efforts intersect with various public and disciplinary discourses? Throughout the residency, the designers transformed the space by “making home” and building the infrastructure needed for shared living, working, and making. Through real-time collaboration and hands-on experimentation with waste materials, the residency evolved into a living lab that featured open-door events, including debates, drawing sessions, communal cooking, and furniture-making, inviting residents to participate in the process.The outcomes, conversations, questions, and discussions will soon be published.