German artist HA Schult has spent the last 18 years traveling around the world with his own army of ‘trash people.’ Like a modern version of China’s terra-cotta warriors, the exhibit recently landed in Israel.

First built out of all manner of recycled junk in 1996, Trash People has since awed audiences in  Xanten, Paris, Moscow, Beijing, Cairo, Zermatt, Kilkenny, Gorleben, Brussels, Cologne, Graz, Rome, Barcelona, Washington D.C., Siracuse, Fabriano, Telgte, and the Arctic.

Now the army of trash warriors, which is reduced from its original 1,000 to 500 and comprises 20 tons of iron, glass, computer parts and industrial waste, has touched down in Tel Aviv.

They didn’t go to Rothschild Blvd. They didn’t go to Jaffa. The trash warriors went to Hiriya, the site of what used to be the largest landfill in the country. And what a site it was.

Teeming with so much methane gas that it provides power for a nearby factory, the landfill has since been rehabilitated into a public park, and one that is incredibly active at educating the public about the downsides of poor waste management.

But they are also the vanguard for an active trash culture – people who turn waste into art and even functional objects.

Related: World’s largest trash mural makes life a little less horrible for people in Syria

There’s nothing functional about the German artist’s trash army on display at what is now called the Ariel Sharon Park. But it does serve as a remarkable wake up call.

Modern society has become so wasteful that we have run out of ways to dispose of the excess trash. The oceans are so full of trash, rescue teams mistook it for the Malaysian Flight 370 that went missing, and there’s even junk floating in space.

To some extent, each one of us is a trash warrior. According to a 2012 Ha’aretz article, after Americans, Israelis generate more waste per capita than anywhere else in the world. That same year, 3,000 tons of waste collected from Tel Aviv and surrounding towns was delivered to Hiriya every day.

Recycling is becoming more common and an increasing number of people are aware of how much junk they make. But not enough.

Hopefully this traveling exhibit will become the conversation at Israeli dinner tables, and that the vision of 500 life-sized trash people will forever remind them to reduce their consumption.

Images by Gianluca Battista via HA Schult’s Facebook Page

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Already the methane emitted from Hiriya is harvested to power a nearby factory and the surrounding area is being converted into an urban park that is safe for a variety of outdoor recreational activities. Now Yosef Messer Architects have won the Econtainer Bridge Competition, which may result in the construction of a bridge made of recycled shipping containers linking Arial Sharon Park with the main thoroughfare leading to Tel Aviv.

Each year, 800,000 maritime shipping containers are spit out into the world with nowhere to go. As a result, resourceful designers have frequently incorporated the into art and design projects. They are used for pop-up shops, for temporary restaurants, mobile eco-lodging and all sorts of other creative uses.

But to our knowledge, Yosef Messer Architects is the first to propose utilizing them as the main construction material in a 160 meter bridge.

The Israeli firm places great emphasis on reusing existing materials in order to reduce waste and on fast, efficient and inexpensive construction.

About 70 percent of the ECOtainer bridge will be constructed in a factory, which goes a long way to reducing site damage, and wooden platforms will create a path through the shipping containers, which will comprise the project’s “skeleton,” according to the design team.

Both a passageway for cyclists, pedestrians and light vehicles, the Econtainer Bridge will also be a destination in itself. Benches will be available on either edge, and rooftop platforms will frame panoramic views of southern Tel Aviv.

Photovoltaic panel louvers will serve the dual purpose of creating shading and generating energy for lighting so that the bridge will be completely self-sufficient.

Additional louvers will be included to ensure that the shipping containers, which are made of steel, won’t bake park visitors during the summer months.

Of different shapes and sizes, the recycled containers offer a variety of volumetric options, giving the client a great deal of design flexibility. And most of all, this extraordinary project, if it gets off the ground so to speak, will become a fabulous teaching tool.

Already Hiriya offers tours to people interested in urban reclamation and improved waste management, but a bridge constructed with recycled shipping containers sets a whole new precedent in a country that consistently breaksground in water conservation, wildlife management, clean technology and green architecture.

It has our vote of confidence.

:: Arch Daily

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