INDUSTRY:
PRODUCT DESIGN
COURSE:
FIELD STUDIO
SEMESTER:
FALL 2023
EXPERIENCE:
3D MODELING & PROTOTYPING
Recycling the Bank
about.
This project was developed in partnership with Epicenter, a design and architecture firm dedicated to strengthening the community of Green River, Utah. Green River, a small town known for its rich history and melon farming, is home to the Fruit Grower’s Bank, a historic building that has stood at the corner of Main Street and Broadway since 1909. Over the years, it has housed everything from banks and city hall to a jail and liquor store, yet today, it stands vacant and structurally unsound. When a survey conducted by Epicenter found that 42% of respondents wanted to see the bank rehabilitated, its imminent demolition raised questions about sustainable building practices and historical preservation. This project sought to reimagine demolition not just as destruction, but as an opportunity to recycle both materials and memory.
challenge.
Demolitions in the U.S. generate an astounding 569 million tons of construction debris annually, with traditional methods prioritizing speed over sustainability. While mindful deconstruction requires more labor, it can significantly reduce environmental impact by lowering greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption, and waste production. In the case of the Fruit Grower’s Bank, the challenge lay in finding a way to preserve the essence of the building beyond simply salvaging its materials. Could the history, form, and community significance of the bank be reinterpreted in a way that honored its past while embracing a sustainable future? Instead of treating the bank as merely a source of reusable materials, this project explored how the structure itself could be “recycled” into a new artifact that carried its historical and cultural weight forward.
result.
Rather than limiting recycling to the reclamation of materials, this project introduced an alternative approach, one that reused the bank’s form as well as its physical elements. By integrating historical recognition with sustainable demolition practices, the resulting artifact remained visually and structurally reminiscent of the original bank, preserving its embodied energy and presence within Green River. This approach offered a model for rethinking demolition as an act of transformation, where buildings are not simply discarded but reinterpreted as living parts of a community’s ongoing story. The Fruit Grower’s Bank, though no longer standing, continues to exist, not just as salvaged brick and wood, but as a reimagined landmark that reflects both its past and the town’s vision for a more sustainable future.
