ReCollective are a diverse group of designers, environmental activists, makers and mavericks who work together to create systemic changes around attitudes towards ‘waste’ materials.
We do this though material logistics (material in), building systems (processing) and community action (material out).
We are proving a better alternative to the current 'waste' process by directly and urgently processing it better.
Diverting material away from waste streams (reducing waste) and embedding it into buildings for communities (building community power).
We encourage a process we’ve called "anticipatory design" - taking reclaimed material from our existing inventory and designing with it. Many architects come up with a design and THEN think about materiality. We believe in material informing design.
The community infrastructure supported by us is tangible proof of a better alternative.
Climate change is the result of a culture that has bred a dependence on capitalism and continual growth. This culture continually produces excess materials that are hastily classed as ‘waste’ despite their potential.
To combat this, we are creating local and resilient networks that can withstand future uncertainties brought about by climate change. We are nurturing an infrastructure that empowers and enables communities to have material autonomy and local resilience.
Our members make our work possible - through the relationships that they foster we are able to build our national framework and remain relevant on a local level.
This culture change is about reclaiming an appreciation of the things around us, learning how to use, reuse, appreciate, repair and redistribute in a way that does the material justice.
Through this belief we have developed ‘anticipatory design’, a design process where buildings are designed from the material palette (rather than design, then material choice as an afterthought)
Part of this cultural change should focus on a care for the inherent value of materials, taking the time and effort to deconstruct and re-use, careful deconstruction is part of the behaviour change needed to form a better material culture.
Lastly and most critically, through the urgent direct action undertaken by our networks (from acquiring, processing, redistributing and embedding material), we can demonstrate that there is a better alternative.
The community infrastructure empowering change delivered from our material is a tangible protest that can’t be ignored. Part of our process involves trial, error,the space for mistakes and a value for creativity and lateral thinking. We have seen behaviour change prompted by our actions time and time again meaning many of the positive impacts of our work are hard to quantify.
