LOT-EK’S RECYCLED AIRPLANE LIBRARY
by Jill Fehrenbacher
Move out of the way shipping containers… there’s a new kid on the block: airplane fuselages.
New York’s urban architect recyclers, LOT-EK, have recently designed a library in Guadalajara made entirely of refurbished airplane fuselages. Apparently when airplanes are put to rest, most of their parts are easily recycled. However, according to Noticias Arquitectura, the fuselages are the only parts that are rarely reused, because “the cost of its demolition exceeds the profit of aluminum resale.” Because of this, there are a ton of discarded fuselages strewn all over deserts of the western states. Boeing 727 and 737 are the best-selling commercial planes and therefore the most common fuselage types in these graveyards. The fuselages are sold completely stripped, and at a ridicously cheap price - lending themselves to a great building material.
Naturally, someone was bound to find a use for these discarded structures, and its no surprise that LOT-EK was first to forage.
“The fuselage becomes the basic module of this building. It is insulated and furnished according to the program. The internal subdivision generated by the existing floor joists is used to respond to functional needs: the upper section is used for inhabitation while the lower one houses independent and interconnected mechanical systems: HVAC, electrical, cabling, and a conveyor belts network for the mechanical distribution of the books.”
Via BLDGBLOG via Noticias Arquitectura (Thanks Geoff!)
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The ‘Buffalo Wings’ of the aircraft industry, no pun intended. (okay, maybe a little…)
It is a great idea. It certainly shows one of the promising potentials I have yet seen for these items. I have seen rare occasions when someone attempted to turn one into a house, but that’s hardly a market and never particularly successful. The designer who does manifest a market for this ‘refuse’ deserves tha fame that will follow… and Lo-Tek is certainly getting close.