Ecotechnic Metabolics
Envisioning E-waste as a Circular Care System for Resilient Urban Green Cover
The Strategic Gap
While cities are rushing to implement "green cover" for climate resilience, these interventions often fail to deliver their intended impact due to poor maintenance. Without constant care and data, urban nature struggles to survive, reducing its ability to cool the city. Simultaneously, we face a mounting crisis of e-waste. We are currently addressing this intersection:
How might we repurpose obsolete technology to ensure the survival and vitality of our urban green infrastructure?
The CSM Roof Pilot
We are treating the Central Saint Martins roof terrace as a living laboratory for a "Technological Mycelium." Moving beyond simple recycling, we are designing a distributed network of care where "dead" tech supports "living" nature. We are currently developing prototypes where obsolete phones serve as diagnostic tools monitoring soil moisture and plant stress in real-time to fill the data gap required to keep these gardens thriving.
Future Vision
While the system is being tested at CSM, the strategic goal is to scale this into a "Data Common" for the wider 'Knowledge Quarter'. We envision a distributed network that connects residents with their local green spaces, where discarded devices don't just become sensors, but act as a care loop alerting the community when the green cover needs attention and turning passive residents into active stewards of their environment.
© Ecotechnic Metabolics
Role
Strategic Designer & Material Researcher
Client
UAL CSM x KE Fund (Academic Research project)
Duration
Sep 2025 - ongoing
CSM Roof Garden (Pilot)
Knowledge Quarter (Vision)
Methods
Speculative Design, Systems Thinking, Physical Computing, Circular Economy
Outcome
Living Lab & Maintenance Framework
Team
Group of 5
Skin&Kin