WASTE WORLD
From Abandonment to Activation:
Reimagining the Ruins of a Former Amusement Park into a participatory Recycling Center in Bali
"Waste World" transforms an abandoned building within Taman Festival Park into a participatory recycling center based on the Indonesian Waste Bank system, known locally as Bank Sampah. Residents bring separated recyclable materials, which are weighed, recorded and assigned a monetary value. Once sufficient quantities have been collected, the materials are sold to recycling partners. The project translates this system into accessible public architecture. A sorting pathway leads through the sorting hall and a large storage wall, where separated materials and compressed waste bales become part of the spatial experience. Collection, transformation and resource recovery are made visible, understandable and participatory. The design follows four principles: Adaptive Reuse makes the existing building the first act of recycling; Sorting as Experience enables understanding through participation; Reversible Interventions allow the architecture to adapt over time; and Material Recovery integrates demolition waste and upcycled panels into the construction. Existing vegetation, graffiti and weathering remain visible, creating a dialogue between old and new.
The Waste Bank is the first step in transforming the entire nine-hectare site into Waste World — a new kind of theme park centered on waste, circularity and environmental awareness.
