DK Osseo-Asare: What a scrapyard in Ghana can teach us about innovation
DK Osseo-Asare: O que um parque de sucata no Gana nos pode ensinar sobre inovação
DK Osseo-Asare creates architecture with and for the people that design overlooks. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
in the Odaw River.
que vive no Rio Odaw.
from the Korle Lagoon,
à Lagoa Korle,
into the Gulf of Guinea.
para o Golfo da Guiné.
take apart all kinds of things,
desmontam todo o tipo de coisas,
de Agbogbloshie é famoso
of the downside of technology:
do lado negativo da tecnologia:
from around the world end their life,
os aparelhos do mundo inteiro,
that the media loves to show,
adoram mostrar,
burning wires and cables
a queimar fios e cabos
como combustível,
and the environment.
a si mesmos e ao ambiente.
the global ecosystem,
no ecossistema global,
da cadeia alimentar.
from Agbogbloshie,
com Agbogbloshie,
from city- and nationwide is brought.
recolhida na cidade e em todo o país.
nem o que está lá dentro.
make it their business
tratam de aprender
aluminum, steel, glass, plastic
o alumínio, o aço, o vidro, o plástico
to mine materials from our waste.
recuperar materiais do lixo.
silver, platinum, palladium
platina, paládio,
from beneath the surface of the earth.
extraído do subsolo do planeta.
materials, parts and components
peças e componentes
of electric plugs.
das tomadas elétricas.
components that are still functional.
os componentes que ainda funcionam.
like this one in Agbogbloshie
como esta em Agbogbloshie
of technicians across the country
de técnicos por todo o país
and electronic equipment,
elétricos e eletrónicos
to consumers that may not be able to buy
uma televisão ou um computador novo.
there are young hackers in Agbogbloshie --
há jovens "hackers" em Agbogbloshie
sense of that word --
how to take apart computers
how to give them new life.
como dar-lhes uma vida nova.
that making is a cycle.
que o fabrico é um ciclo.
that enable us to make something anew.
que nos permitem fazer uma coisa nova.
as botas de trabalho,
from all over the city,
pela cidade inteira,
as feedstock to factories
como matéria-prima
and microwaves and washing machines
os micro-ondas e as máquinas de lavar
para novas construções,
passam a ser fornos,
passam a ser escopros,
mais objetos,
from the radiators of fridges
dos radiadores dos frigoríficos
ornaments for the building industry,
ornamentos para a indústria de construção,
the street in the Agbogbloshie market
no mercado de Agbogbloshie
e defumadores fabricados localmente,
ovens, stoves and smokers,
like this one by welders like Mohammed,
como esta, à beira da estrada,
from the waste stream
provenientes de desperdícios
com peças de carros velhos.
out of old car parts.
they use look like this,
que usam são assim.
by specially coiling copper
enrolado de forma especial
recovered from old transformer scrap.
recuperado de velhos transformadores.
just next to Agbogbloshie
junto de Agbogbloshie
that power local fabrication.
e que impulsiona o fabrico local.
there's a transfer of skills and knowledge
e conhecimentos
through heuristic learning,
of many students in school,
de muitos estudantes nas escolas
and memorize them.
e decoram-nas.
poder empresarial latente.
or their inherent entrepreneurial power.
mas não como fazer coisas.
Yasmine Abbas and I asked:
in the informal sector
dos fabricantes no setor informal
of students and young professionals
dos estudantes e jovens profissionais
arts and mathematics --
"Sankofa Innovation," which I'll explain.
a "inovação Sankofa"?
ser aproveitadas,
become laser etchers,
passar a ser gravadores a laser
making 3D printers out of e-waste.
a partir de lixo eletrónico.
young people from different backgrounds
de diferentes origens
anything to do with each other,
têm nada em comum,
about how they could collaborate
a forma como podiam colaborar
new machines and tools
novas máquinas e utensílios
and strip copper instead of burning it,
e desnudar cobre em vez de o queimar,
recovered from dead electronics,
de aparelhos eletrónicos já mortos,
for the first time in Agbogbloshie.
pela primeira vez em Agbogbloshie.
with over 1,500 young people,
com mais de 1500 jovens,
and scrap dealers
e fabricantes de base,
to develop a platform
uma plataforma
space for crafting,
para criação artesanal
which is prefab and modular;
pré-fabricado e modular,
que podem ser personalizadas,
based on what makers want to make;
os fabricantes quiserem fazer
with the needs of the scrap dealers
tendo sobretudo em atenção
to arm them with information
fornecer-lhes informações
procedimentos de reciclagem mais limpos.
their recycling processes;
for new scrap and new buyers
de mais sucata e de novos compradores
is finding buyers who will pay more
compradores que paguem mais
do que por cobre queimado.
parts, components, tools, blueprints
partes, componentes, ferramentas, planos
to let customers and clientele
de informar fregueses e clientela
to make a french fry machine.
de fazer uma fritadeira.
that there are end users
o que são os utilizadores finais
that can make them a french fry machine,
quem saiba fazer uma fritadeira
looking how they can collect this scrap,
uma forma de arranjarem essa sucata,
numa coisa apta para fabrico.
into an input for new making.
de falta de conhecimentos
that knot of not knowing
aquilo de que precisam
to make what they want to make.
kiosk in Agbogbloshie,
o quiosque de fabrico em Agbogbloshie,
and experimental making
with remaking and unmaking.
e a desmontagem.
had to be made from scratch
a partir de sucata,
simple trusses which bolt together.
que se encaixam umas nas outras.
one module with semi-skilled labor,
um módulo com trabalho semi-especializado.
and jigs and rigs,
gabaritos e broquins,
build these standardized parts
estandardizadas
de soldadores artesanais
welding machines,
feitas em Agbogbloshie,
que bloqueiam
and stack to make workbenches,
empilhadas para fazer bancadas,
segundo aquilo que queremos fazer.
based on what you want to make.
to other maker ecosystems.
a outros ecossistemas de fabrico.
three years of testing
terminado três anos de testes
to some pretty horrific abuse.
a uma violência bastante terrível.
the results of that testing,
desses testes,
an upgraded version of this makerspace.
a versão deste espaço para fabrico.
and fixed in place,
and kitted out incrementally
e equipada gradualmente,
adquirem recursos.
como uma exposição de ferramentas
experimentar ferramentas
to make what it is they want to make.
para fazerem o que quiserem fazer.
we're planning to also add
estamos também a planear
together with robots.
co-criem em conjunto com robôs.
within the informal sector
no setor informal,
through an open-source process.
de código aberto.
makerspace system
de espaço de fabrico
to gather the resources they need
a reunir os recursos de que precisam
what they want to make;
o que querem fazer,
e com os outros,
to generate steady income;
e gerar receitas regulares
not only their reputation as a maker,
não só a sua reputação enquanto fabricante
Adinkra symbols of the Akan peoples
mais poderosos dos povos Akan
reaching onto its back to collect an egg,
que tenta recolher um ovo nas costas.
as "return and get it,"
como "regressar e obter".
an individual or a community or a society
uma comunidade ou uma sociedade
they have to draw on the past.
tem que recorrer ao passado,
existing ways of doing,
as formas existentes de fazer,
dos seus antepassados.
future for Africa today.
inclusivo para a África atual.
for methods and for models,
quanto aos métodos e aos modelos
be able to connect,
conseguir interligar-nos
not "either-or" paradigm,
de "ambas-e" em vez de "ou-ou",
of this growing network
desta rede crescente
across the continent
por todo o continente
and political boundaries,
nacionais e das barreiras políticas,
innovation in Africa
pôr em rede a inovação em África
of makers at the grassroots.
de fabricantes de grupos de base.
e-waste dump in the world,
lixeira eletrónica do mundo,
is a place where you throw things away
é um sítio onde se deitam fora coisas
onde se desmontam coisas.
you take things apart.
that no longer has any value,
que deixou de ter valor
that you recover
que recuperamos
to remake something new.
para fazer qualquer coisa nova.
are already pioneering and leading
já são pioneiros
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
DK Osseo-Asare - DesignerDK Osseo-Asare creates architecture with and for the people that design overlooks.
Why you should listen
Africa today has the youngest population and fastest rate of urbanization on the planet. How can we amplify indigenous innovation continent-wide to accommodate the needs of Africa’s next billion urban dwellers? Collaborating with thousands of young people in West Africa over the past decade, DK Osseo-Asare has pioneered new approaches to design and deliver architecture and inclusive innovation to people living in resource-constrained environments: reframing the micro-architectures of "kiosk culture" as urban infrastructure for resilience; experimenting with "bambots," or bamboo architecture robots; and prototyping off-grid in the Niger Delta an open-source model of hybrid rural/urban development for Africa.
In 2012, Osseo-Asare and Yasmine Abbas launched the Agbogbloshie Makerspace Platform (AMP), a community-based project to empower grassroots makers in Africa and beyond. Co-designed with over a thousand youth in and around Agbogbloshie scrapyard in Accra, Ghana -- infamously mischaracterized as "the world's largest e-waste dump" -- AMP Spacecraft is an open architecture for "crafting space" that links a mobile structure with modular toolsets to help makers make more and better, together. AMP has deployed three spacecraft to date, with the goal of networking a pan-African fleet of maker kiosks that enable youth to reimagine (e-)waste as raw material for building digital futures, recycle better and unlock their creative potential to remake the world.
Osseo-Asare is co-founding principal of Low Design Office (LOWDO), a trans-Atlantic architecture and integrated design studio based in Ghana and Texas. He co-founded the Ashesi Design Lab as Chief Maker and is Assistant Professor of Architecture and Engineering Design at Penn State University, where he runs the Humanitarian Materials Lab (HuMatLab) and serves as Associate Director of Penn State’s Alliance for Education, Science, Engineering and Design with Africa (AESEDA).
DK Osseo-Asare | Speaker | TED.com