The Regenerating Field and Paper Pulp Panels

One of the ongoing missions of A-Z West is to come up with new materials and fabrication techniques that are efficient, affordable, and practical in the extreme desert climate. One of the most plentiful natural resource available here is paper waste. Product packaging, newspapers, magazines and junk mail all had to be hauled to the dump until Zittel began using it to make Paper Pulp Panels. These are dried in a grid of racks called The Regenerating Field which looks like a cross between an array of solar panels or a minimalist sculpture by Walter DeMaria. The field is intended to function like an agricultural field, where one sets out a batch of pulped paper each day, then harvests it several weeks later when dry.