Digital District Material Inventory for Circular Design

We are developing a digital material inventory for circular design in Binz and Alt-Wiedikon. Residents document unused objects and materials by photo: old furniture, wood scraps, metal parts, textiles, everything that is stored unused in basements, storage rooms and apartments. An AI-powered system automatically analyzes these images and translates them into structured, searchable material data: material type, shape, condition, possible components. A kind of tutti or Ricardo, but not primarily for the resale of second-hand items, but for the recording, visualization and creative reuse of material fragments and unused objects. The inventory is aimed at two user groups: designers and architectural firms. In Binz and Alt-Wiedikon, the density of architectural offices and design players is particularly high. They could integrate the inventory directly into their design processes, for example in the search for locally available materials for interior fittings, furniture or prototypes. At the same time, freelance designers work together with residents to develop new objects from the existing fragments. Materials are only physically activated when a concrete design is available. Specifically: A resident photographs an old chair, wood scraps and metal parts from her basement. The system recognizes material, shape and possible components and makes them accessible in the inventory. An architectural firm uses it to find suitable wood for an interior design. A designer works with residents to develop a new piece of furniture from the available fragments. Only then are the materials collected and processed locally, for example in a neighbourhood workshop, a studio or a temporary production facility. The approach is fundamentally different from existing platforms: Instead of central warehouses and manual recording, we rely on decentralized inventory by photo, automatic AI analysis and a design logic that first designs before material is moved. The quarter thus becomes visible and usable as a decentralised resource. The aim is to test a new workflow for local reuse: from image capture to AI analysis to use by architectural firms, designers and residents, and finally to local production.

Tutti / Ricardo (Switzerland): Platforms for second-hand items. Our approach goes further: not resale of entire objects, but the recording and creative reuse of material fragments. - Component Exchange (Switzerland): Reuse of components, but centralised and on a building scale. We work decentralised and on a property scale. - Restado / re:Store (DE/CH): Material marketplaces for building materials. Our focus is on AI-supported analysis instead of manual recording. - Material Connexion: Material databases for designers, but without a local connection to the neighbourhood and without community participation.

We are a company (e.g. start-up, SME)

profiler.world

I/we implement the idea independently

The project is located in the districts of Binz and Alt-Wiedikon. The data collection takes place decentrally in private apartments, cellars and storage rooms. Further processing and implementation can take place in local workshops, studios or temporary production sites in Binz and Alt-Wiedikon. Binz and Alt-Wiedikon are particularly suitable for this project: the high density of architectural offices and other players in the construction and design industry makes the quarter an ideal test field. These offices could integrate the digital material inventory directly into their design processes, for example in the search for locally available materials for interior fittings, furniture or prototypes. The quarter thus functions simultaneously as a data source (residents), as a design resource (designers and architectural firms) and as a place of transformation and repatriation of the newly created objects.