What a Waste is a research project and upcoming publication that reframes how designers work through the lens of waste — not just leftover material, but four interrelated categories: time, space, effort, and resources.

Focused on waste’s architectural impact, the project brings together Dutch and international collectives working through alternative methods like improvisation, co-creation, scavenging, and inventorying. The resulting publication presents these emerging practices to a broader audience.

On 23 May, What a Waste hosts a mapping workshop with participating collectives at OMI Rotterdam — a hands-on spatial exercise co-creating a large map across OMI’s walls and floor. The public is invited to add their own perspectives to the collective map, which will be documented in the upcoming publication.