YEAR:Fall 2009
SIZE:400 SF
LOCATION:Columbus, OH
Located just outside downtown, the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio (SWACO) is a massive landfill that accepts all of central Ohio’s municipal refuse. To instruct the public on the impact of their garbage, the Roving Museum is an education center that showcases the science of waste and recycling. Initially intending to place the museum directly on the landfill, research showed that in practice landfills are unpredictable building sites. A specific example cites the City View Walmart project which attempted to develop on a former landfill. Eventually, the store was condemned after the foundation cracked and methane leached through the floor. Decomposition of material, emission of methane gas, and the influx of more garbage create a constantly shifting landscape unfit for permanent buildings.
As an alternative to a single stationary structure, the Roving Museum decentralizes museum functions and disperses them out over the landfill in a series of movable structures that plug into a larger visitor center off-site. The mobile buildings directly engage visitors with the site and can move as the landfill landscape changes.
