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People & community

Roles, not heroes.

A project this size is a handful of people making decisions in front of each other. Here is who they were and what each of them decided. A person is named only where their name is shown on screen in an interview the project has published; everyone else appears as a role. Photographs that show a face are published on the project owner's statement that the written permission covers them, and are removed on request.

The workshop

Made by hand, paid by the job.

Select a figure or the formwork to read a documented note.

About five local makers, paid per job.

( 01 )

Residents of Kelurahan Cipawitra

Conversations in lanes, stalls and waiting spots

What they did

  • Named the three needs the project could hear: disposal points, burning, nowhere to sit.
  • Pointed to where units would actually be used.
  • Sat on the chairs for three days before accepting them.

What they decided

What counted as a need, and whether the first chairs were good enough.

Interviewed, and named

Names are written as they appear on screen in the published interviews. The project owner reports that three people were interviewed and that they gave permission in writing, photographs included; the letter itself has not yet been added to this site's record. In “Sosialisasi REINCYCLE” residents answer on camera with no name on screen, so no name is written for them here.

Published on the project's Instagram

Links go to the project's own posts. What was said in them is not quoted or paraphrased on this page: the recordings have not been transcribed yet.

About a dozen people standing behind a three-compartment waste-sorting unit, under a canopy with red-and-white bunting and trees behind.
Fig. 01A group gathered behind an installed sorting unit in Kelurahan Cipawitra. Still from the project's video record.· Kelurahan Cipawitra

( 02 )

Kelurahan Cipawitra office

The head and staff

What they did

  • Received the first formal visit before any design existed.
  • Walked the neighbourhood with the project.
  • Confirmed the installation of nine units in writing.

What they decided

Where public units could stand, and what the kelurahan would confirm.

Interviewed, and named

Name and position as shown on screen in the video. The video has no subtitles and the recording has not been transcribed, so nothing said in it is quoted or summarised here; the topic comes from the project's own caption.

Hands steady a steel-framed sorting unit with a tile-mosaic base and a sign reading Pilah sampah, jaga desa kita.
Fig. 02A sorting unit being set in place outside the kelurahan office. Still from the project's video record.· Kelurahan Cipawitra office

( 03 )

Local makers

About five, paid per job

What they did

  • Criticised the first sketches on request; changed dimensions and joints.
  • Welded frames, set ceramic cladding, ground every reachable edge, finished and repainted.
  • Began checking one another's work without being asked.

What they decided

How to build it safely, and when a piece of material was not good enough.

A crouching worker's hands twist wire at the crossing of two rebar bars; only hands, arms and shoes are visible.
Fig. 03Tying the grid by hand with binding wire.· Workshop at the family depot, Tasikmalaya

( 04 )

The family depot and its workers

A building-materials business in Tasikmalaya

What they did

  • Donated unsellable tile, paving and brick, and workshop space.
  • Senior workers explained what really happens to damaged stock and helped grade it.

What they decided

What could leave the depot as donated material.

Rectangular timber frames filled with grey concrete and a mosaic of tile fragments, drying on a sheet.
Fig. 04Three bench bases curing on tarpaulin: broken tile pressed into fresh concrete inside timber formwork.· Workshop at the family depot, Tasikmalaya

( 05 )

Documentation team

Photography, video and the weekly 'Dari Sisa untuk Desa' series

What they did

  • Filmed the process from 2026, under a brief that forbade scripted praise.
  • Published the series on Instagram: 20 posts at the last count.

What they decided

What to film and what to leave out; never what people should say.

Two people sit cross-legged on a tiled floor; one holds a small microphone toward the other. A board behind them reads Pos Kamling RT01/04, Kel Cipawitra.
Fig. 05An interview on camera at the existing neighbourhood watch post (pos kamling) of RT 01/04, Kelurahan Cipawitra. Still from the project's video record.· Pos kamling RT 01/04, Kelurahan Cipawitra

( 06 )

Founder and project lead

A secondary-school student from Tasikmalaya, studying in Shenzhen

What they did

  • Asked the first question about the depot's unsellable stock.
  • Went to the kelurahan and to residents before drawing anything.
  • Declined to build a night-watch post and said so in person.
  • Set the rule that reclaimed material is never load-bearing; hired makers; reviewed daily photos from abroad; sent one finish back.
  • Wrote down what the project has not measured.

What they decided

Scope, safety rule, who to hire, and what not to claim.

Close-up of a printed signboard with the reincycle wordmark and the words Youth Today, Earth Tomorrow.
Fig. 06The sign on each unit carries the project mark and the line "Youth today, earth tomorrow".· Workshop at the family depot, Tasikmalaya

Consent and representation

  1. 01A person is named only where their name is shown on screen in an interview the project has published, and the project owner has confirmed it. The owner states that the people interviewed gave permission in writing. Everyone else appears as a role. Photographs that show a recognisable face are published on the owner's statement that the written permission covers them; the letter itself is not yet on file here. A caption says only what can be seen, never who a person is, and any photograph is removed on request.
  2. 02We do not script testimonials. Quotes, when they appear, are recorded and attributed with permission.
  3. 03Residents are collaborators who named the need, not beneficiaries who were helped.
  4. 04Anyone pictured may ask for an image to be removed at any time.