Introducing Care in the Cycle of Clothes

The practice of doing laundry has changed significantly over time. It has gone from being a public activity, although long reserved for women, to a very private practice today. In Zurich, a large number of households have their own washing machine or at least have access to a communal laundry room in their building. However, only a few laundromats allow people who do not have easy access to a washing machine to do their laundry, and often at a high cost.

When it comes to drying, the traditional method of open-air drying remains the most popular. Despite the development of efficient but also electricity-consuming dryers, this technique enables better care of clothing and extends its durability.

In today's world, where the lifespan of clothing is reducing every day in relation to the rise of fast fashion - the question of the clothes afterlife has never been more relevant. While Swiss citizens waste more than 12.5 kg of textiles per year, people in developing countries are overwhelmed by mountains of discarded clothing, most of which cannot be reused.  On our site, every week, a considerable amount of clothing is transferred into large trucks to be transported across Europe for washing and resale. While donating has been made easier thanks to the large number of collection points, encouraging the recycling and reuse of clothing, it has also led to a sad reality : considering clothes as something you can wear twice and then throw away as trash. In this chain of reuse of clothes, another inconsistency appears. Those clothes usually undergo multiple unnecessary cleaning processes. Even if they are already clean when donated, they will be washed by a company and most likely washed again after being bought.

Can be this triple washing be avoid ? Can we reconsider the act of giving away clothes ?   In the project, the idea of caring for the clothes is put back in the centre.  The project allows people to bring clothes they don’t need anymore and wash them one last time, hang them on a line, giving them the care they deserve. While they wait for their clothes to be washed, they can look around and choose clothes hanging on the clotheslines that other people have left to donate. The project becoming a place of care and exchange.

On site, the project adapts to climatic conditions, using the natural power of sunlight and wind to dry clothes more efficiently. As most of the programme takes place outdoors, a few enclosed spaces allow clothes to be washed, waited for and tried on in more comfortable conditions in winter.

Autumn 2025

Project by: Océane Kundert, Justine Troillet, Alicia Meyer, Siria Peirolo

Teaching team: Anna Puigjaner, Dafni Retzepi, Ethel Baraona Pohl, Lisa Maillard, Luis Úrculo, Pol Esteve Castelló, He Shen

Images: Luís Úrcul