Saleng — Life in the Garbage Pile

Saleng — Life in the Garbage Pile looks at the informal waste-collecting communities that keep Thai cities running, and asks what architecture can offer people whose livelihood is built around what everyone else discards.

Designed by Kantinan Na Nakorn (กันตินันท์ ณ นคร), the project won Runner-up at the Asia Young Designer Awards (AYDA) 2020. It applies Material Upcycling at a social scale — not just reusing materials, but designing dignity into a system built on what everyone else leaves behind.