Car tyres are a global environmental issue, making up over 2% of all waste material collected worldwide. Over 280 million tyres are discarded annually, with only 30 million retreaded or reused. Wallmakers’ project is a way of reinterpreting this waste material through adaptive construction. “3-Minute Corridor” is envisioned as a passage cut through waste tyres that fosters contemplation on the amount of waste humans produce daily — the equivalent of 684,931 tyres. The pavilion is made from 1425 tyres, the number discarded globally during the three-minute walk a visitor makes through the passage.
The structure’s tyres have been collected from various waste facilities in Sharjah. It is packed with a material found in abundance in the region — desert sand — that is generally deemed unsuitable for building. This modified form of masonry ensures an internal space that is thermally insulated and thus cooler. The pavilion, while a conceptual, overt reminder of the immense scale of global waste, is ultimately a hopeful endeavour, exemplifying the contextual, creative possibilities of designing buildings within the UAE and similar environments.
