Upcycled Futures: Reclaiming vehicles, reviving communities Part 1 Project 2025 Andreas Benjamin University of the West of England | UK ‘Upcycled Futures’ proposes an architectural and social response to the ongoing cost-of-living crisis affecting post-industrial regions of the UK. It targets areas long abandoned and forgotten by their former industrial prowess. This project is not simply a solution; it is a reimagination of communities and economies, one rooted in our belief that transformation emerges from inside regardless of an area’s government investment.In contrast to the dominant narratives of sustainability, Upcycled Futures presents a dynamic, ever-evolving microcosm of interdependence. It draws inspiration from the vernacular traditions of resource, offering a framework for reactivating dormant skills, such as craftmanship; and using these to harness a process that gives power back to the community.Through systems of vehicle upcycling (almost Meccano-like), textile recycling, and allotment-to-market food production, residents reclaim agency over their environment and economy, crafting spaces that speak to their collective resilience.This is not a vision of passive consumption but active participation, where small investments in second-hand vehicles cultivate multigenerational entrepreneurship, mobility, and regeneration. What was once a disregarded vehicle is nurtured into a mobile business or a house for everyone who needs to place to call their own home. Tutor(s)