#BLADEMADE
Designs by Superuse | Digital 5500 px + 4K film shots available
At Superuse, waste rotor blades are seen as structural and aesthetic elements for large-scale, worldwide use in design and architecture. Blade made designs reduce wind energy waste and provide an opportunity for later recovery of valuable composite materials.
If only 5% of The Netherlands’ yearly production of urban furniture such as playgrounds, public seating, and bus shelters were made using waste rotor blades, then all of The Netherlands’ estimated 400* waste rotor blades produced annually would be removed from the waste stream.
(* ~2000 wind turbines, assuming 15-year blade lifespan) ☢︎ = 1000 MW = ±10 tonnes composite material
The latest research shows that we will face around 43 million tonnes of wind turbine blade material waste worldwide.
(Pu Liu a & Claire Y. Barlow, 2017)
EXTENDED RESEARCH:
State-of-the-art review of product stewardship strategies for large
Lead by Daniel Martinez-Marquez, with Nick Florin , Wayne Hall, Peter Majewski, Hao Wang, Rodney A. Stewart.
“Architects can play a fundamental role by using waste, and what’s more, ingenuity, to convert waste into structures that are useful, imaginative, and beautiful.”
Bahamón & Sa njinés 2010
From the book: REMATERIAL : From Waste to Architecture'.
REWIND ALMERE
Superuse designed shelters for the thousands of daily commuters at the bus and train station at Almere Poort, the Netherlands. The durable and indestructible shelter design uses four 30m rotor blades. Waste rotor blades are easy to find in Almere, being Flevoland the first province in terms of wind energy production.
Tensioned netting between the four towers allows climbing and embraces this central space to be used for street football, also called PannaVeld. The material chosen for the green carpet is 'Nike gravel', made from upcycled shredded sneakers.
The overlaid blades compose a diversity of spaces for different age groups and activities. The intent was to create a labyrinth where children could endlessly chase each other around the elements while also finding shelter within the interior spaces for different ways of playing.
The intact blade and remaining sections were overlaid, inspired by the classic children's game 'Mikado'. So the name 'Wikado' is derived from 'Mikado', and the Dutch word 'WIEK stands for rotor blades.
WIKADO PLAYGROUND
The REWIND public seating is located at Willemsplein, a public square at the foot of the famous Erasmus bridge; made from rotor blades and upcycled concrete, the iconic design was created for the municipality of Rotterdam with joint funding from Joulz Energy Company.
The municipality required a durable seating with iconic quality for people waiting to board harbour tour boats, but that could also be temporarily removed, when necessary, to make room for public events.
The blades were cut into four sections to harness the different inherent qualities along the blade's length, resulting in construction pieces that are essentially readymade for various construction purposes.
As a statement made by both designers and the municipality of Almere, the shelters are placed parallel to the train line, making them visible from the trains.
Stacked in a 'Stonehenge' like manner, two 30m blades are used to create two large shelters. The changing shape over the blades' length gives a shelter roof that morphs into different forms depending on the viewing angle. Every part of each blade has been used.
REWIND WILLEMSPLEIN
Realized at the exact cost but with an ecological footprint fifty times smaller than a usual playground, WIKADO embodies the vision of how we can improve our cities by reusing the discarded wind turbines' blades.
Located at the northern block of Rotterdam, Crosswijk, the WIKADO playground was the 2009 European Environmental Design Award winner.
This photo series captures the essential functions implemented. Next to the ground and aerial photo series, 4k film shots are also available on request.
Superuse harvested nine rotor blades from the northern province of Friesland that would otherwise be incinerated. Five blades were used for seating, three as backrests, and one was placed vertically as a place marker. A diversity of seating options was created by adjusting the angles and positions of the blades. Seating depths vary from ±30cm to ±80cm, providing both upright seatings to more relaxed lounging options.
The ±6m long blades, manufactured initially by Stork, are attached with bolts to 1 cubic meter concrete aggregate blocks, heavy enough to keep the lightweight blades in place. The aggregate is 90% recycled concrete rubble from Rotterdam's demolitions projects. The blocks have a pentagon footprint with a skewed 3D form that changes shape from different viewing angles. The tops of the blocks are oblique, which puts the upright place marker blade at a slight angle, making it stand out against the predominantly vertical elements on the square.
All blades were painted signal red to bring colour to the stark grey surroundings of Willemsplein and to recall the red of Willemsbrug that can be seen further down the river.
PLEASE NOTE: this project was extensively documented, and there are more photos available for publication than what is displayed in this portfolio. An extended preview is available on request for both photography and 4K film shots.
One of the five 30m blades was used intact. The cylindrical portion of the 30m long blade has a 1.4m diameter, a suitable size for kids who can use the interior space for playing. The remaining four blades were cut into three sections; their cylindrical end sections were transformed into play-towers, placed around the central zone.
Each tower has a distinct and recognizable character: the 'tower flat' has three rooms with peeking holes; the 'watchtower' with a former F16 cockpit on top; the 'water tower' with a hand pump for children to pour water for mixing with sand; and, the 'slide tower' to which the former slides from were attached.
The above photo series was realised between 2012 and 2017, while in 2020, the REWIND was repainted and nominated as the city's monument for sexual diversity.
Find out more in this portfolio, which displays the new photos and the dedicated short documentary produced by Denis for the Rotterdam's Center for Visual Arts.