Hynthesizer
Projekt in einem Satz
Mit lokalen PartizipatorInnen zu einer resilienten Wertschöpfungskette der Gemeinschaft - so wird auf dem See Nokoué in Benin aus der invasiven Wasserhyacinthe ein textiler Rohstoff für Ganvié.
Warum ist das Projekt besonders einzigartig?
Seit 500 Jahren trotzt die kleine Stadt Ganvié auf dem See Nokoué jeglichen Widrigkeiten, doch nun stellt eine invasive Wasserpflanze für den See, die Bevölkerung und die lokale Fischerei eine existenzielle Bedrohung dar. Das Hynthesizer-Projekt ist das Ergebnis einer ganzheitlichen Analyse der Wasserstadt in Benin und all ihrer gesellschaftlichen, natürlichen, baulichen und wirtschaftlichen Einflüsse. Mit der Verarbeitung der Eichhornia Crassipes zu einem textilen Rohstoff, erhält die Pflanze einen neuen Stellenwert und wird von der Invasorin zur Ressource. Die Architektur spiegelt die Ergebnisse der intensiven Auseinandersetzung wider und wird somit ein Bauwerk zum Mitmachen.
Projektbeschreibung
A speculative Bachelorthesis-Project
In the middle of the surrounding fish culture fields from the cities of Ganvié and Tchanhoué, the project presented, is a response to the - Chair of Architectural Design and Participations– semester theme: Collectra(sh). It addresses the problems caused by the invasive water hyacinth on Lake Nokoué in Benin.
With a reproduction rate of 5.5% per year, the eichhornia crassipes is becoming a serious threat to the local population. Both fisheries, the ecology of the lake as well as the environment suffer from the various factors that the plant favors due to local conditions. In a first phase a comprehensive analysis led to profound knowledge about social conditions, the lake ecology and environmental challenges on which the project could build upon.
With an elaborated concept for community harvesting, linked to an organization and payment application, the plant becomes a profitable economic resource for the community, while its further spread is limited. Thereby, the cities of Ganvié and Tchanhoué get the opportunity to build a participatory center, which produces yarn, fabrics and textile products from the hyacinth stem. Starting with a drying tower for hyacinth-fibers, the building continues with various production facilities including spinning, weaving, processing and market spaces, which at night perform as an open-air boat cinema to the local community.
The buildings solely constructed from local timber and thatch, acknowledging the local building typologies, as well as a self-produced textile façade – which forms lightweight and fully cross ventilated spaces - can perform as locally buildable role-models for the construction of on-water houses in tropical climates.
