Abstract:

Within the framework of a course on technology and sustainability of a professional master's degree in architecture, a workshop was proposed for students to work on designing a house based on recycling the fuselage of aeroplanes from an airport placed in a mainly rural environment.

The construction sector is one of the sectors that mobilizes the most natural resources, especially non-renewable ones, which is why its conversion to a circular economy is vital. Currently, unlike the aeronautical sector, most of the materials that constitute a building end up as waste at the end of their use. No one doubts the urgency of promoting the reuse of systems, products and materials in the construction sector. Therefore, it is vital to incorporate the design criteria for deconstruction in the project phase and to apply models of dismountable artefacts, more typical of the industry, such as aeroplanes. One of the activities carried out at the airport, the dismantling of aircraft, has also inspired the setting up of the workshop for two main reasons. On the one hand, this work is a clear example of circularity, due to the precise, rigorous and efficient process of "disassembling" the aircraft. On the other hand, the fuselage of the disassembled aircraft suggests the possibility of being reused as a tubular housing structure.

The spot of the airport, where the workshop is proposed to be developed, is characterised by being an environment with small municipalities that suffer the progressive deterioration of their economies that induces processes of rural depopulation with the consequent loss of population and of their social, cultural and architectural heritage. In fact, these towns have not been affected by the proximity of the airport and do not even have accommodations for travellers or airport staff, forcing them to travel long distances to find them. The workshop can provide innovative solutions to revitalize the economies of rural areas, incorporating new uses and activities compatible with the dynamics of the place.

The activities of Castellón airport, in addition to those typical of an infrastructure of these characteristics, aim to generate a business, industrial and logistics hub that will play a dynamic role in the economy and the territory, promoting synergies with other traditional economic areas with a vocation for diversification, moving towards a mixed airport model that combines commercial traffic with industrial, logistics or training activities. Considering this vision of the airport, the workshop is based on two basic pillars: synergies with local economies and training and innovation applied to industrialized processes.

Thanks to the workshop, an industrial symbiosis was generated through the cooperation between two very different entities, such as a university and an airport, in such a way that the former offered its knowledge to help solve an existing problem in the airport environment and in its own aeroplane management processes.

Keywords:

Circular economy, housing, business collaboration, knowledge transfer, recycling.