FATBERGS are massive accumulations of waste materials, primarily fats, oils, grease, and non-biodegradable items like wet wipes, which congeal in sewer systems. They can cause severe blockages and damage to wastewater infrastructure, reminding us of the by-products of our daily production and consumption processes. These invisible underground islands are microbial and toxic manifestations of a reality we cannot see, or we do not wish to see. They tell us how all that is worthless is not digested by existing urban infrastructure and then exported far away to disenfranchised territories. Fatbergs, as indigestible waste, contribute to the unjust deposition of toxic materials on powerless populations.

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This project presents five types of fatbergs from sewers, in different locations around the world. Each lump is subjected to an autopsy that reflects the cultural and material everyday practices of citizens in different metropolitan environments. Three scales come into play: a) the micro-scale of the kitchen, a domestic digestive organ that processes its own organic waste to power plants and other domestic organs; b) the meso-scale of urban infrastructures; c) the macro-scale of the territory, which points to how we export waste streams outside cities. The project also points to the potential dissolution of the fatberg: either through bacterial processes that could 'eat' it, or through micro-bio-grids -systems of recirculation and regeneration of matter to produce resources and foster new energy alliances.

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Project Lead:  Hayley Eber and Lydia Kallipoliti

Design Team: Loretta Koch & Vaida Kidykaite

Fatberg research, design and production: Alexandros Tsamis & Foteini Kalikouni

Sound: Chrisi Nanou 

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Supported by: 

Columbia University, GSAPP

Center for Architecture, Science & Ecology [CASE]

Elise Jaffe & Jeffrey Brown

The Irwin S Chanin School of Architecture of The Cooper Union