upcyling – Kristen Baumlier

Tag: upcyling

LightWall: An Upcycled Studio Space That is Up for Auction

Posted on May 26, 2013May 28, 2013 by Kbaumlier

ReSpace is a competition that aims to raise awareness of reuse materials while showcasing creative and successful space designs. For 2012, the challenge was to design a small flexible space that could be used as a workshop, studio space, shop, or community space that was made out of reused and upcycled materials.

There were over 30 entries, and the winning design was student entry created by Scott Hefner and Abe Drechsler who attend the NCSU College of Design in Raleigh, NC created the design Light Wall Pavilion.

The structure is 18.5′ long, 11.5′ wide and 11′ tall. It is made of many donated or salvaged materials that were came from the area of Wake County and various programs of Habitat Humanity of Wake County. The materials include salvaged lumber, maple flooring that came from Chapel Hill High School, old pallets, reused siding and roofing, and reused glass bottles from various restaurants and bars in downtown Raleigh.

In a period of 48 hours, volunteers worked to build the winning design, and the structure is up for auction, and closes on June 11th at 8pm.

I’m planning to check out the structure this weekend. The wall made of bottles and reused flooring and counters have texture and character, and I look forward to seeing the pavilion in person. (I don’t plan to put in a bid though, right now we are looking for a new house to live in, and I don’t think the one room pavilion will meet our needs.)

Want to see how it was built? There is a great short time-lapse video where you can see the structure built , with the 48 hours of work crunched into a 1 minute timelapse.

Image Source:
habitatonlineauction.com

Links:

www.youtube.com – LightWall Construction Video

habitatonlineauction.com

wakerestore.org/showcase/light-wall-pavilion

www.respace.org

Goedzak (“good bag”) – Bag Design for Upcycling

Posted on May 9, 2013May 13, 2013 by Kbaumlier

Currently in my house, we have a corner of the basement that is dedicated for things that we want to give away, or put out on garbage day, with the hope that someone will take it instead of the items ending up in a landfill. This works well for the larger things that people can see from the road, but what about smaller things that are being thrown out?

A new garbage bag design had been created, called a Goedzak, which can be used for items that are being thrown away but are usable. The way the bag works is that you fill up the bag, and anyone can take the items in the bag. This could include an old vase you don’t want, some pants that don’t fit, or other items that might be useful to someone else.

The bags are easy to spot, with their bright yellow color, and also easy to see what is inside, since half of the bag design is clear. These especially will be useful for individuals living in cities, who do not have driveway or “tree lawn” garbage or dropoff areas like my neighborhood.

The name Goedzak translates in Dutch to “good guy” or “kind soul,” but is a pun on the words “good bag” or “good thing.” The bags were designed by the design team called Waarmakers, which was the result of doing a design research project that explored designing for altruism, and making something to benefit others.

50,000 of the bags will be used as a test project in the Netherlands, in coordination with a second hand store. The bags will be used in one city to start, and will be implemented in up to 20 other Dutch cities as the project develops.

Will the bags be useful, and help encourage reusing things instead of throwing things away? Check out the progress of the project on the project website, or write to the designers at goedzak@waarmakers.nl.

Image Source:
waarmakers.nl/projects/goedzak/

Links:

waarmakers.nl/projects/goedzak/

Bicycled: A Bike Made of Junkyard Cars

Posted on March 25, 2013April 1, 2013 by Kbaumlier

Bicycled is a upcyling project where the frame of a bike is made out of recycled materials that come from cars from the junkyard. Lola Madrid, who is behind the project strips cars of parts such as the transmission belt, upholstery materials, and door handles and uses them to make a new bike.

Which parts are used for what purpose? The bike chain is made out of the transmission belt, the seat and handlebars are made from seat upholstery, the seat post clamp is made out of a door handle, and the bike’s safety reflective lights are made from the turn signal reflectors on the car. Each bike is unique, and he is working on developing a line of bikes.

You can watch the Bicycled video online which shows Madrid in the process of making the bikes, and contact him via the website to get your name on the list for a bike.

Image Source:
bicycledbikes.com/

Links:

www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=wOB-KciTjvo

bicycledbikes.com/

Baguette Tables: Tables made out of Upcycled Bread

Posted on February 5, 2013February 12, 2013 by Kbaumlier

All around us is food being thrown away. We can’t always see it, since it is often in dumpsters or bins, and located behind the restaurants and stores that we visit. The designers Tomek and Gosia Rygalik of Studio Rygalik decided to create tables out of bread that was thrown away, in order bring attention to the issue. Their Baguette Tables were made from stale baguettes that were meant to be thrown away. The baguettes are cut in half, and vary in size, creating an interesting form that looks kind of like a rock or natural form, until you figure out it is bread.

On their site the designers write “Food thrown away in Vienna could feed half of the population of Graz.” (Graz is the second largest city in Vienna.) The tables were part of a full bread experience at the Vienna Design Week Laboratory, where people bread dishes that were served on the bread tables.

Studio Rygalik is based in Warsaw and focuses on furniture, products, and experience design. You can read more about this and other projects on their site.

Image Source:

www.studiorygalik.com/baguette-tables–vienna-design-week/

Links:

www.studiorygalik.com/baguette-tables–vienna-design-week/

Talking Trash – Reet Aus Upcycling Fashion Designs

Posted on November 19, 2012November 20, 2012 by Kbaumlier

I recently checked out what was going on with Pixelache, in Helsinki Finland, and read about an upcoming workshop by Reet Aus, based in Tallinn,Estonia. Her work is inspired by how discarded garments can become wearable designs.

Aus works with production leftovers, and other upcycled materials and promotes the the idea that this model can be applied to mass production.

Her PhD thesis that she completed in 2012 focused on how to bring textile waste back to the production cycle in fashion design; how to understand and test various upcycling approaches and techniques; and how to put this method into practice for mass produced garments as well as individual pieces.

Her current work explores how to promote the wider use of upcycling in fashion design, both in Estonia and globally. She recently did a workshop where she presented a design model to create products with minimal environmental impact.

Her clothing and designs are called Trash to Trend. There has been a lot of action in the area of upcycling and making individual pieces and diy projects, but Aus is interested in how this model can be applied to larger systems and processes.

The model that she promotes is comprised of three elements:

1. Waste mapping and a database that gives designers an overview of where local textile waste is being produced, its type, and quantity.

2. Design techniques that offer designers techniques for upcycling textile waste in fashion design. Within the model there are a variety of techniques that provide for one-off pieces, small-scale manufacturing, and mass production.

3. A web-based platform that is an interactive framework integrating the various elements that makes direct communication possible between waste generators, designers, and clients. This creates a transparent product chain is created, waste data is accessible, techniques are shared, and upcycled products can be sold and marketed.

Her work, research, and writings can be seen on her website. Is this the future of fashion?

Image Source:
http://reetaus.com/

Links:

http://reuse.ee/trashtotrend/?page_id=7

http://reetaus.com/