UK duo’s recycle plan to help young architects in JA

LONDON:

Two young British-born architects are determined to assist aspiring design students in Jamaica by donating new and reusable materials collected from universities in the UK which would otherwise have been disposed of and contribute to the growing waste crisis in the environment.

While at university, Chardae Hylton and Jackie Yeboah formed Next Generation Architecture (NGA) as a solution to the lack of diversity within the field of interior design and architecture.

They ran workshops in schools to teach and introduce architecture to younger students and helped create opportunities, bridging the gap between communities through sponsorships, funding, and social advocacy.

Their latest project is the Recycling Bin Programme, which aims to collect excess classroom materials from students in London universities and donate them to first-year architecture students at the University of Technology (UTECH) in Jamaica.

The Recycling Bin Programme will repurpose unused classroom materials for further use in Jamaica. These include sketchbooks, cartridge paper, foam boards, drawing pens and pencils, scale rulers, T Squares, tracing paper, and various card sizes.

Chardae Hylton, whose parents are from Jamaica, had the idea for the project when she was completing her final year at university. She got fellow architect Jackie Yeboah involved when they met at a photoshoot while doing freelance modelling. Yeboah’s parents are from Ghana. The students shared the same view on helping young architects.

Hylton said: “Growing up, I frequently travelled back and forth to Jamaica, and in 2020, I spent a year on placement at a construction company there. It gave me first-hand experience living on the island, which created an opportunity to connect with students, and through that, I began to hear of their difficulties completing their studies.”

FINANCIAL WEIGHT

“The financial battle that the students face inspired me to create The ‘Next Generation Architecture Recycling Programme’. As architecture students, the cost of materials and the course becomes very overwhelming, especially in the first year when we are hit with the financial weight of the degree. In Jamaica, I empathised with the students as their burden is a lot greater and there’s little to no support.

“At the end of each year in the UK, students dispose of tons of materials, either used or partially used, which contributes to the economic crisis of waste pollution and has a major impact on our planet. Waste pollution destroys so many things around us - communities, living creatures and our ecosystems. (Over the) long term, it has a very significant economic impact. This includes lowering land values and reducing tourism, wasted resources, and expensive clean-up costs.

“NGA’s Recycling Bin Programme is aiming to combat this by collecting the excess reusable materials from students in London universities and donating them to first-year architecture students at the UTECH in Jamaica to support them and reduce the financial blow and stress while also combating our material waste crisis that happens at the end of each academic year.”

Hylton says there are other NGA projects in the planning stage for this summer that will include engaging in a series of interviews and discussions with top designers and architects in Jamaica to help bring their work to the forefront in the UK market.

She said: “Growing up in the UK, I never saw many black architects, especially black women, in this profession, which is predominantly a white male field. That’s how the NGA was birthed, with the idea of more female representation and an all-inclusive field. It would then be great if we can help bring to the forefront the designers in Jamaica.

“This will provide them with a platform for their work to be seen and recognised worldwide whilst transforming the narrative by showcasing the talent and skills of the underrepresented global majority.”

For the NGA’s Recycling Bin programme, both Hylton and Yeboah have established bin collection points at two universities in London – Kingston University and Central Saint Martin’s University of The Arts London – to start the collection of reusable classroom materials at the end of May when the academic year closes.

They are also pitching their initiative to private companies to help fund and support the project in order to ship the material to Jamaica by July. More information on the NGA projects is available on their social media sites on LinkedIn and Instagram.