Circular City | FUNDAMENTAL SCHOOL

FUNDAMENTAL SCHOOL establishes a cooperation with Partner + Partner Architects, Berlin, to develop Cradle to Cradle architecture and Circular City concepts.

Urbanisation, with over half the world’s population living in cities, is affecting water quality, material flow management, air quality and human health. Ecological systems and quality of life are under pressure. For example, many chemical compounds can’t be treated in waste water sewage systems. In urban regions, the vast amounts of chemical substances from household products, medication and disinfectants in waste water streams pose a great threat to aquatic systems and sewage treatment systems. Various chemical compounds can’t be treated in waste water sewage systems and are discharged into the environment with unknown impact on water quality, aquatic organisms and soil. The fate of many chemicals in water-systems has still not been researched thoroughly.

Circular City policy and implementation methodology reinvents and structures the way products for the urban environment are designed, sourced, produced and recovered by focussing on beneficial product life-cycles. As example, eco-detergents and cleaning products were designed and developed to be renewable, non-toxic and biodegradable in waste-water treatment plants, thereby supporting healthy clean water. Healthy urban living is furthermore supported by the use of refill systems. For the eco-detergent a refill concept was implemented in Berlin. Clients come to a store with their bottles and refill these with eco-detergent from a canister and are incentivised by a lower refill price for the detergent. Packaging is reused, saving resources and energy. Local refill systems secure local jobs.