Spatial Design

Recycled Bottles
Installation

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

How might we repurpose plastic bottle waste in Cambodia into an interactive art installation?

In Cambodia, where municipal waste management is a persistent challenge, the informal economy of waste pickers, known as 'Neak Reu Ejai,' serves as the backbone for recycling efforts. This installation was designed to celebrate and validate this informal system. By sourcing 10kg of plastic bottles from Neak Reu Ejai and local collection centers, my students and I transformed a stigmatized source of income into a site-specific work of beauty. Working with four classes at Liger Leadership Academy and co-facilitator Souyeth Kret, I led a participatory process that challenged the public to reconsider waste as a resource for cultural expression and beauty.

The project investigates the architectural potential of these discarded materials, treating the bottles as units of color to create a porous, suspended facade across the school balcony. By painting and assembling these units, the installation modulates light, transforming waste accumulation into colorful, interactive art that invites community engagement.

Once installed, the work is highly interactive in its environment; users play with the bottles and the breeze flows through the installation to create a wind-chime effect.

Materials & Tools: Recycled plastic bottles, string, chicken wire, acrylic paint & zipties.

Photograph: Kibae Park/Flickr Vision, from The Guardian

Collecting Recycled Bottles as Material

My co-teacher Souyeth Kret and I bought tons of plastic bottles from a local waste collection center in Takmau, Cambodia

Bottle Assembly

After collecting our materials (bottles, paints and metal wire from which to hang them), I presented the project to my students, showing them the inspiration for the project and explaining the layout plan of the bottles along the metal wire. I organized about 400 bottles by color and length of string to create a wave effect along the metal wire, similar to the inspiration photos I found (see below).

Across the four classes (about 60 students), each class painted about 100 bottles, color by color to create a total of about 400 painted bottles. We worked together to wash and paint each bottle, cut string and tie the bottles to the wire net before hanging it up over the school balcony.