Mobile solar-powered recycling plant Trashpresso wins World Design Impact Prize

An autonomous recycling machine designed by Taiwanese company Miniwiz, which can be transplanted into local communities to transform plastic waste into useful products, has received the 2021 World Design Impact Prize.

Called Trashpresso, the device condenses the same plastic recycling line that normally takes over entire industrial plants into two mobile units about the size of a refrigerator.

The process was designed to be as quick as possible, taking only three minutes from start to finish. It is powered by solar energy and utilises artificial intelligence and robotics.

Trashpresso is a mobile recycling plant (top image) with an integrated sorting system (above)

Although working at a smaller scale than a traditional plant, Trashpresso can still recycle up to half a tonne of plastic waste a day. This is equivalent to the consumption of a 10,000-strong community according to Miniwiz.

"Trashpresso overcomes the barriers of distance and energy, demonstrating that recycling can be done anywhere and making upcycling scalable," said Jarvis Liu, who co-founded the company alongside architect and engineer Arthur Huang.

"It leapfrogs existing technology and empowers the circular economy by decentralizing plastic waste management."

The machine can be transported in a large shipping container

The process starts with a smart camera that uses AI to help users sort their plastic waste into different colours and types, from polyproylene to polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

This is then shredded into flakes, washed, dried and melted in a mould before a robotic arm transfers the mould into a heat-press machine, where the plastic can be forged into building materials such as tiles as well as small accessories.

To minimise the machine's footprint on the surrounding environment and prevent off-gassing, the different plastics are heated only to their exact softening temperature, with any volatile organic compounds (VOC) caught by an integrated air filter.

Read:

Snøhetta and Studio Plastique make tiles from recycled oven and microwave glass

Meanwhile, the water used to wash the plastics is subsequently purified and circled back into the process rather than being discarded.

"Trashpresso minimises the air and water footprint to almost zero with just seven kilowatt-hours of power consumption," Liu told Dezeen.

So far, the machine has been shipped to Tibet to help build a school from local waste, while in Sardinia it was integrated into a pop-up shop where customers paid with plastic waste instead of cash.

It can be used to create tiles and other building materials

"Not only does it convert waste on the spot," Liu explained. "It also serves as an educational tool in communities, inspiring consumers to bring in their own personal plastic waste to produce unique durable product to take home."

The World Design Organisation has awarded the project this year's World Design Impact Prize, which recognises industrial design projects with a positive social, cultural or environmental impact.

The post Mobile solar-powered recycling plant Trashpresso wins World Design Impact Prize appeared first on Dezeen.

from Dezeen https://ift.tt/3ds3N5z

Pegg is a furniture collection that can be constructed with traditional pegs

Oxford-based designer Michael Buick has created a wooden range of furniture that can be easily assembled and disassembled using traditional pegs.

Described as slotting together "like a children's toy", the oak and timber pieces can be assembled at home using just a mallet.

Buick created Pegg as an easy-to-build furniture collection

The British designer decided to create the collection which comprises tables, seating, shelving and lighting, after realising his own need for portable, adaptable furniture at home.

"I wanted to create portable, sustainable furniture because of my own experience: I moved house on average once a year over 15 years so I knew my furniture designs had to be portable, durable and sustainable," Buick told Dezeen.

"Pegg helps you be home anywhere – it is portable, sustainable, all-wood furniture that's built for life."

Pegg is informed by traditional peg joinery techniques

Buick designed each minimalist item according to his own set of guidelines called Pegg Design Rules. These include using only wood, making something that is easy to build and take apart and ensuring that it lasts many years.

He also drew on the pegged joinery techniques used in older, traditional woodwork used to build furniture and timber-framed buildings.

"Pegg reimagines one of furniture making’s oldest techniques – using wooden pegs to hold joints in place," he said.

Each item was designed according to the same set of rules

Each CNC-cut item can be put together using round dowels which are essentially wooden rods and round hole joints. After slotting one component through a hole, the user locks the adjoining component with a small peg which is visible on the outside.

For the stool, Buick created a modular joint block where a peg locks a leg into place. For the desk, he created a joint that is strong enough to hold a solid oak table leg in place.

Read:

Miu Miu's M/Matching Colorstool is a "board game without rules"

"The innovative wooden joints held together with pegs mean you can easily build and take apart Pegg over and over again, making it easy to move home or adapt your space, without finding yourself with broken furniture that needs to be replaced," Buick said.

"There is a play of simple geometry – of round meeting square, tube passing through plane."

"Add to that the joy of great joinery, where the way the object is built is also the source of its beauty," he continued.

The collection includes tables, seating, shelving and lighting

Buick sourced the timber for the collection from UK companies who import it from Europe. Pegg's workshops are based at The Sylva Foundation Wood Centre a foundation that plays a leading role in getting the UK to plant more sustainable woodlands.

Pegg was shortlisted in the furniture design category of Dezeen Awards 2021.

Other furniture that has pegged joinery includes a chair called PEG by New York-based designer Paul Loebach and a set of wooden tables and benches that can be hung up with pegs by Studio Gorm.

The post Pegg is a furniture collection that can be constructed with traditional pegs appeared first on Dezeen.

from Dezeen https://ift.tt/31m5xdN

Davide Groppi designs Origine light to look like "a bud emerging from the ground"

Italian designer Davide Groppi has created Origine, a sculptural light designed to illuminates facades and interiors with indirect light.

Groppi's design for Origine is defined by the light's simple, narrow structure. Made from fibreglass and metal, its stem becomes increasingly thinner from its bottom to its top and was designed to look like the light is soaring towards the sky.

Origine is a sculptural light by Davide Groppi

"It appears like a bud emerging from the ground and soaring upwards towards the sky, a stem that becomes increasingly thinner," said Groppi.

"Origine is the representation of what I mean by creation, the search for the new, purity, functionality and amazement," he continued. "It is the representation of life through light, like a bud growing from the earth."

The matt black lamp has a graphic and sculptural form

The Italian designer's lamp, which made the shortlist in the lighting design category of Dezeen Awards 2021, got its name from the word oligo, which means "start, birth and source," according to the designer.

Described by Groppi as "mysterious, enigmatic but comfortable," Origine gives off an indirect light and was designed to be used in both interior and exterior spaces.

Read:

Dean Norton's sculptural Daylight lamp replicates sunlight to improve well-being

"Mysterious, enigmatic but comfortable, Origine combines the fascination of the unknown with the pleasure of a sophisticated and elegant ambient light," said Groppi.

"Designed to illuminate the facades of private buildings as well as internal spaces with purity and personality, Origine sculpts and enhances every environment with its indirect light, which is intentionally non-invasive, graphic and fascinating," the designer continued.

The light is available in an indoor or outdoor model

Other shortlisted projects in the lighting design category of Dezeen Awards 2021 include a lamp that replicates sunlight with the aim of improving wellbeing, a solar light that generates energy when hung from a window and a pendant light featuring a blown-glass tube.

The post Davide Groppi designs Origine light to look like "a bud emerging from the ground" appeared first on Dezeen.

from Dezeen https://ift.tt/3oc857c

Charlotte Taylor creates NFT of OMA-designed underwater sculpture for Miami Beach

Visualisation artists Charlotte Taylor and Nicholas Préaud have created an NFT artwork based on an OMA-designed sculpture that will form part of an underwater park near Miami Beach.

Taylor and Préaud's video artwork is focused on a sculpture named Coral Arena that was designed by Shohei Shigematsu, who heads architecture studio OMA's New York office.

The piece was sold as an NFT to help promote the ReefLine sculpture park, which is set to be built off the coast of Miami Beach and was also designed by OMA. A physical version of the sculpture will form part of the underwater park.

The video shows the sculpture being displayed in a museum, before being immersed in the sea and covered in coral.

Charlotte Taylor and Nicholas Préaud have created three artworks based on an OMA-designed sculpture

"The NFT is meant to depict the unique nature of the ReefLine sculpture," OMA told Dezeen. "It would at first appear to be more appropriate or fitting in a museum, so the video begins with the sculpture displayed as a static piece of artwork in a scaleless, white box setting."

"As the film transitions to the underwater deployment of the sculpture, we hope that people understand that this is the true purpose of the sculpture, whose physical twin will be placed underwater off the coast of Miami Beach," explained OMA.

"The sculpture is a piece of resilient infrastructure as much as it is a formal object. The form will encourage coral reef growth, creating a new aquatic ecosystem that helps to protect the coastline."

Read:

"The virtual world is taking over the real world," says virtual designer Anthony Authié of Zyva Studio

Taylor and Préaud collaborated with OMA to create three artworks to be sold as NFTs. Alongside the video, two stills were created.

The first, named Coral Arena/2021, shows the sculpture in a fictional gallery, and the second, named Coral Arena/2031, shows the piece after it has been sunk in the ocean for ten years as part of the sculpture park.

The pieces were created to draw attention to the positive environmental impact of the project.

The video visualises the artwork after it has been underwater for 10 years

"With the built environment expanding at an exponential rate, we wanted to highlight the projects within this quota that give back to the environment," Taylor told Dezeen.

"OMA's structure for the Reefline project is one of these poignant projects; rebuilding an ecosystem and redefining the coastline of Miami," she continued.

"The structure itself is a sculptural masterpiece yet it has very modest purpose; architecture not for the masses but for the aquatic ecosystem. We hope to convey this humble monument and its very meaningful impact though following its journey."

Read:

OMA designs underwater sculpture park The ReefLine for Miami Beach

"This 35 second short film is an essay both on the architectural and environmental aspects of this project," Préaud told Dezeen.

"It builds up in intensity to the point where the structure is barely recognizable, and nature has taken its rights back."

The Coral Arena sculpture will be formed from nine spiral staircases arranged around a central core. It will be installed as part of the sculpture park, which is currently under construction.

"Our sculpture explores the nature of weightlessness underwater – the stair, a rudimentary architecture element suggestive of directionality and movement, is taken out of its usual context and transformed into an underwater folly," OMA said.

"Like the circular formation of the atoll, the series of sinuous spiral stairs create a three-dimensional structure reminiscent of marine life," it continued.

"The organic form provides layered zones for coral reef growth and interstitial spaces for unique underwater experiences. The stairs rotate around a central forum for underwater gathering and activities."

Alongside OMA's sculpture, the park will contain pieces from multiple designers including Argentinian conceptual artist Leandro Erlich. He will create an underwater version of his Order of Importance traffic jam installation, which was originally made of sand and installed on Miami Beach.

The post Charlotte Taylor creates NFT of OMA-designed underwater sculpture for Miami Beach appeared first on Dezeen.

from Dezeen https://ift.tt/3xHzWiL

Foster + Partners sustainability lead calls for more refurbishments and fewer basements to help fight climate change

Architects should reuse existing buildings where possible to reduce embodied carbon and emissions, according to Christopher Trott, head of sustainability at Foster + Partners.

Other ways of lowering emissions include not building basements, reducing spans, using less materials and making greater use of wood, Trott said.

"The kind of immediate things that we can do are things like reusing existing buildings and perhaps reducing spans in existing structures," Trott said. "You can simply use less material and perhaps avoid basements where they're not necessary."

Top: from left to right, Marcus Fairs of Dezeen, Cassie Sutherland of C40 Cities, Christopher Trott of Foster + Partners and Cécile Brisac of Brisac Gonzalez. Above: Trott said architects should consider the "carbon investment" when designing buildings

Trott was part of a live panel debate on Dezeen discussing the outcome of the COP26 climate conference, which he attended in Glasgow earlier this month.

Making buildings reversible is another way of reducing emissions, he said, although he felt that viable alternatives to steel and concrete are a long way off.

"Timber is a great material for the right types of buildings. It's not going to solve all buildings, it's going to solve certain types of buildings and it's come a long way," he said.

However, Trott added that mineral-based materials such as concrete and steel would still be used "for quite a long time yet", and said that architects should ensure that components are designed for long-term use.

The Tulip was recently rejected by the UK government

"Some of the things that are being built now, provided they can be deconstructed or reused well into the future, that's an investment," he said. "It's not a problem, it's an investment. It's still there to be used in future generations of exactly the same buildings."

Trott's comments came shortly after Foster + Partners had its proposal for the Tulip, a skyscraper tourist attraction in the City of London, rejected by the UK government partly over concerns about the "highly unsustainable concept of using vast quantities of reinforced concrete for the foundations and lift shaft to transport visitors to as high a level as possible to enjoy a view".

It is thought to be the first example of the government referencing embodied carbon in a planning decision letter.

In a conversation with US climate envoy John Kerry at COP26, Foster + Partners founder Norman Foster said "higher standards" on embodied carbon are needed.

Read:

Watch a live talk on what we can learn from COP26 as part of Velux's Build for Life conference

"I think it's fair to say that the world is still catching up on embodied carbon... it's a journey that I think most [in the building industry] have been on for four or five years, they haven't been on for much longer than that," said Trott.

He added that changing the manufacturing industry to produce more environmentally friendly construction products is "really difficult and is going to take a while".

As sustainability lead at Foster + Partners, Trott said his job "is to help us make our buildings, our urban scale projects and our products more sustainable. I have a hand in all of the projects one way or another," he said.

Trott was speaking during a talk hosted by Dezeen as part of skylight manufacturer Velux's Build for Life online conference.

"Difficult to turn down projects"

On the panel with him was Cécile Brisac, co-founder of London studio Brisac Gonzalez, who said architects' hands "are a little bit tied at some points" when designing for private developers that do not have a strong environmental agenda.

"However much we try to drive change, our power is fairly little actually compared to the clients," she added.

Referring to a quote from prominent environmental lawyer Farhana Yamin that architects "are enablers of business as usual", Brisac said: "Well, it's quite difficult to sort of turn down every single project because it's not meeting all the climate targets. You know, you can only do as much as you can do, and you can try to push things as much as you can."

London-based Cécile Brisac warned that architects' power to reduce the carbon impact of new buildings is "fairly little" compared to developers

Also on the panel, Cassie Sutherland of sustainable urbanism network C40 Cities said that minimising embodied carbon in new buildings should become "the norm and not the exception".

"I think that now is not the time where we can kind of say, alright, we'll let that one go, I won't push back on that one... and it is very difficult when it comes down to a business decision and whether you're going to take that project or you're not," she said.

"Our time is to act now, we must act now, we must be taking strong action. And I think there is an issue... about the lag time between regulation coming in, and then the buildings being built. And I think, again, we're kind of running out of time to deal with that lag anymore."

The post Foster + Partners sustainability lead calls for more refurbishments and fewer basements to help fight climate change appeared first on Dezeen.

from Dezeen https://ift.tt/3pljWPu