Wikado:

2012Architecten re-designed a playground in disrepair for the foundation “Kinderparadijs Meidoorn”, utilizing five discarded rotor blades. Before beginning  the new design process, the architects selected concrete materials from the playground ´s original structure that could be reused  in the 1200m2 plot. The five superused rotor blades lead the rest of the design, assembled to create a maze-like space around a panna court created from the existing concrete circle. The rotor blades take on their own unique character as the playgrounds four towers. The net in the center of the playground doubles as a climbing structure and a fence to keep balls from entering the neighboring yard sites.

Welpeloo

Villa Welpeloo, a residence for a contemporary art-collecting couple, was designed with the goal to meet material needs with as many local surplus materials possible. During the design phase, material scouts researched the potential for discarded materials found within the vicinity to be used for the  building’s frame and façade. Their findings inspired the development of Villla Welpeloo ´s design, provoking discussions of new shape and new methods of construction. The frame of the Villa was finally constructed from steel beams of an old paternoster (textile factory machine). Just one of these machines provided enough steel to support the entire villa. The textured facade was created from the inner wood-parts of one thousand TKF factory cables that were too damaged for further original use. Although the cables were no longer working, the salvaged wood was generally undamaged.

Recyclops

This shiny installation is made from the sinks of a building that was going to be demolished. The sinks make up the walls of the multifunctional space, appearing in different shapes. A skilful fastening system allows for easy mounting and dismounting of the installation. When the sun shines, the recycled sinks resemble an architectural disco ball and the sun pierces light beams through their drain holes. When it rains, the sinks provide shelter while simultaneously collecting rainwater to be stored for gray water circuit of the pavilion.

We can see examples of this practise in the last two examples of ecological design i´ve featured. The first, The Arup designed Druk white lotus school, used both traditional materials and traditional building methods. This supported the local economy, the local culture and avoided harmful environmental effects by limiting the distanace (and carbon-footprint) of material transport. With another take on responsible material usage,  Morphosis’ FLOAT house design for New Orleans, acknowledged poverty pressures in affected flood zones all over the world, by (using local labor) assembling the house on-site from pre-fabricated components with all required wall anchors, electrical, mechanical and plumbing systems pre-installed. The affordable housing was designed as easy-to-transport, easy-to assemble sections so that the design may be reapplied throughout the 9th ward, as well as be adapted to the needs of flood zones worldwide.

However, perhaps the best examples of ecological design-driven use of responsible material are the creations of the dutch 2012Architecten who have set themselves apart in the design world with their dedication to a permanent process of waste renewal by “superuse”. This concept of “superuse” not only focuses on the re-use of materials, but also includes a shift in thinking about the fundamentals of designing and Planning. “Superuse” requires architects to abandon the instinct to create with exact measures and instead design with rough estimates and crude material descriptions to best adapt to reusable materials opportunity.

2012Architecten´s design of the the Duchi shoe shop in 2004 was constructed by 90% super-used waste materials.The shoe store displays its collection on the stacked windshields of old Audi 100s, a car model that is no longer in production. A recycled conveyor belt in the center of the store serves as a sort of treadmill for costumers to test out their potential shoe purchases. Even the hard wood floor has been created from salvaged waste-wood. Not only was material use improvised, but before construction, the only design plan set in stone was the form of the hard-wood chairs.

The store´s design evolved as it was built with available materials , taking an interesting circular shape due to the natural curves of the windshields.

But the project´s economic and social gains extend beyond the fact that materials and costs were saved. The decision to let reusable material availability lead design processes produced the one-of-a kind design that sets Duchi shoe shop apart from it´s competitors and attracts customers.

This example of ecological design demonstrates how responsibly focused creativity that sustainably integrates new developments into existing ones often double to increase property attraction. 2012Architecten launched a superuse website with Suite75 a few years ago. This website serves as an online meeting place for architects and designers to share their reuse of materials to create new subjects and highlights design projects like beer bottle tables, chairs made of abandoned radiators and bookshelves made from the reconfiguration of second-hand wood crates.

(images curtacy of  http://www.archined.nl/nieuws/shopping-on-the-trash-heap/)

Superuse is based on a simple but effective concept. For the viewer, it is a big database of recycling-related projects in various fields (design, architecture, art, etc) and for its registered users it is a community whose members can submit stuff and vote other people’s sumissions. As a social network Superuse doesn’t seem to allow super fancy profile pages, but this is not necessarily a bad thing since it keeps it hardcore to the posting, the voting and the commenting. More than a tool for professionals to promote their work (even though it can also be used as such) the website is about being passionate and showing appreciation for recycling, with tons of links to pages and Flickr sets. The voting thing makes the sharing tastier, and we know sharing is one of the internet’s best virtues.

The graphics and interface themselves are rather slick and clean, with lots of thumbnailed submissions directly accessible from the homepage and a quick navigation system. I could find just a couple of flaws, like the rather undressed profile pages and having to scroll down to see who has voted each project.

The people behind the project are the brilliant dutch studio 2012 Architects (also founders of the Recyclicity foundation and soon to be featured on the next Yearbook) and Suite75.

source: www.yskira.com