My project, Pneumacity: “A Tire New Dies,” seeks to highlight the end-of-life journey of tires, focusing on their transformation and impact within the bustling cityscape of Lagos. From the meticulous work of road vulcanizers—who fix tires with the precision of surgeons—to the various ways tires are upcycled or discarded, this project examines the environmental challenges posed by these non-degradable objects. It also explores the opportunities presented by tire recycling, such as their use in creating playground floor tiles.
“In Nigeria, a tire never dies,” one resident of Lagos told us. All those tires lying in dumps are not really wastes; they can either go through transformation into something of worth or utility to man.

Pneumacity follows the innumerable tracks that tires leave through the economy and ecology of Lagos, a city of some 20 million people who daily host some two million vehicles on their roadways. Once slipped from cars, buses, and lorries, tires could retain their shape but take on a completely different use—platforms for portable generators, display stands for the sale of market produce, or even an informal marker of space on road or beach. In their entirety, they may be upcycled, refashioned into quite different objects of furniture or art.

More precisely, the focus of the project is on informal cultures and livelihoods centered on tire-related labor, complex places of waste tires in street/road ecologies, and circular economies of repurposing.

Pneumacity: "A Tire New Dies"

A vulcanizer in Mushin, Lagos, examines a used tyre brought to his workshop for repair.

Pneumacity: "A Tire New Dies"

A photo collage showcasing various tools used by vulcanizers for tyre repair services.

Pneumacity: "A Tire New Dies"

In the Mile 12 area of Lagos, heaps of waste tyres are collected and sorted for recycling. Various industries use these tyres to extract oil and other petrochemical contents.

Pneumacity: "A Tire New Dies"

A sorter offloads waste tyres for recycling at a dump site in the Mile 12 area of Lagos. Various industries use the tyres to extract black oil and other petrochemical contents.

Pneumacity: "A Tire New Dies"

Waste tyres are used to cover manholes leading to the underground drainage system in the CMS (Church Missionary Society) area of Lagos Island.

Pneumacity: "A Tire New Dies"

Taking naps on used tyres used to demarcate a football pitch in Lagos.

Pneumacity: "A Tire New Dies"

Pupils playing on a playground floor made from recycled used tyres.

Pneumacity: "A Tire New Dies"

Discarded tyres in the bush and transforming them to become part of the local ecology present challenges.

Pneumacity: "A Tire New Dies"

Discarded tyres in the bush and transforming them to become part of the local ecology present challenges.

Pneumacity: "A Tire New Dies"

Discarded tyres near a plant and transforming them to become part of the local ecology present challenges.