Sometimes people ask me why I like upcycle design so much. My answer is quite simple. I tell them that no other design has each piece telling such a unique story. Attacking the waste problem together with originality, uniqueness and fun are the aspects that appeal to me.
To give you another example, just look at today’s featured upcycle design. A perfect combination of upcycling, design and zero-waste ideology.
Instill eco-awareness through fan guards
First let me ask you, have you ever wondered how many electrical appliances are thrown away? Too many and this results in an alarming amount of waste. And there’s such an enormous pile of waste that a part often doesn’t get recycled. In some parts of the world one of those appliances that gets thrown away is a fan. Some time ago another design was featured on upcycleDZINE that was made out of upcycling a fan guard. It a fantastic lamp called Lamp Fan by Fantasized.
And now it’s also about a fan guard but it’s upcycled into a piece of furniture, a stool called Stool ZERO. The design is by Hong Kong based KaCaMa Design Lab. They noticed a lot of fan guards that where thrown away, plastic electric wire casings being left over after copper was stripped at scrap metal shops. And they found some abandoned wooden freight crates.
A solution was found to bring these three products together. KaCaMa created a friendly colorful stool by weaving the electric wire casings through a fan guard to create the seat. Wood of the freight crates was used to create stool legs. Each stool has a different character because of various patterns that were used.
KaCaMa Design Lab is a group of product designers who are specialized in reusing post-consumer waste materials. They hope their product will not only “delight people’s lives and instill eco-awareness in its users, but also can establish contact with local enterprises, handcraft men and local cultures”.
Photos © KaCaMa Design Lab
I really hope that after reading about and seeing Stool ZERO you’ll be just as enthusiastic as I’m about upcycle design. And agree that upcycle design has the x-factor compared to traditional design. Don’t get me wrong about traditional design. It’s a good thing and creates great solutions. But upcycle design should be taken much more serious than just being upgraded trash.
Design by KaCaMa Design Lab | Found on Moco Loco
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