Recycled | GreenCupboards Blog

Endless: Recycled Refrigerator Chairs

Aug 222011

Recycled Refrigerator Chair

Chairs made from recycled refrigerators are pretty “cool” (pun intended). Dirk Van Der Kooij has a refrigerator-eating machine that takes in ground up old fridge parts at one end and spits out a single plastic string at the other. The robotically programmed machine lays the plastic sting down “drawing” the chair then folds it over itself, over and over again, to slowly form a chair. The final product resembles a modernized wicker chair.

The robot-machine is named Fanuc. Fanuc can make up to 4,000 chairs annually. Dirk Van Der Kooij adds pigment beads to the plastic mixture in order to get a variety of colors in his chairs. As well as repurposed refrigerators, Fanuc has also been repurposed, it was originally an industrial Chinese robot who put in 140,000 hours before being let go.

Luckily for Fanuc, Dirk Van Der Kooij came to the rescue, and gave it another job making chairs. Fanuc had to be updated with new software, but has since become much more successful than his factory counterparts.

The interesting new way to make chairs has been dubbed “Endless” by the designer, this quote from Dirk Van Der Kooij gives incite to the name:

“High investments in complicated moulds made it almost impossible for a designer to evaluate and refine his final object. The designer is no longer involved in the production process and the design stage is completely shifted to a pre -production phase.

I found the solution not in labour, but in automation. By combining different techniques, I was able to design an automated, but very flexible process. I taught a robot his new craft, drawing furniture out of one endlessly long plastic string. This makes it possible for me to design in the good old fashioned way: making a chair,evaluate, refine, making a chair….. endlessly.” (dedeceblog.com)

The one endless sting chairs are not yet mass-produced but Dirk Van Der Kooij is optimistic that it will happen in the near future.

The Endless project won this years International Design Festival:

http://dmy-berlin.com/en/festival/2011-2/award/

What Makes It Green:

Endless is a “green” project because it saves space in landfills by eliminating refrigerators from it one at a time. Dirk Van Der Kooij has combined the design and production phases while making his chairs, this is not mainstream “green” but it most definitely cuts down on time and resources. As well as recycling refrigerators, Dirk also recycles prototype chairs that he does not like.

Endless by Dirk Vander Kooij at DMY Berlin from Dezeen on Vimeo.

Endless from Dirk Vander Kooij on Vimeo.

Sources:

http://www.dirkvanderkooij.nl/

http://inhabitat.com/dirk-van-der-kooij-creates-his-modern-endless-chairs-from-recycled-refrigerators/

http://www.greenlaunches.com/recycle/refrigerators-ground-up-and-recycled-into-chairs-by-robot-fanuc.php

http://gizmodo.com/5704828/i-could-spend-all-day-watching-this-mechanic-arm-making-chairs

http://www.re-nest.com/re-nest/sustainable-design/the-endless-chair-made-from-recycled-refrigerators-145654

http://www.dedeceblog.com/2011/04/15/dirk-vander-kooij-faruc-milan-design-week-2011/

http://dmy-berlin.com/en/festival/2011-2/award/

Images:

http://www.dedeceblog.com/2011/04/15/dirk-vander-kooij-faruc-milan-design-week-2011/

http://hallready.blogspot.com/2011/03/endless-chair-made-from-recycled.html

From Maps to Envelopes

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Jun 222011

You could even make them with your own maps at home! Just make sure you ask before you take one out of the glove box.

Maps change with the times as landscapes, towns, and roads are made, or abandoned. These maps, however, will not be abandoned thanks to several innovative companies who are recycling them into envelopes for mailing.

Maps can be used for more than just directions.

The map envelopes are 100% recycled. If your lucky, you might be able to figure out where your going, with a map envelope and a letter inside addressed to you.

It’s hard to determine who was the first to turn an old map into an envelope but here’s the story of one man who had this light bulb over his head:

Chris Ryan, a publisher of outdoor recreation and guidebooks, has a love for maps and that passion led him to an unusual side business. Walking on the campus of a local university, he saw a foot-high stack of out-of-date U.S. government topographic maps and charts being thrown out. “Something clicked,” Ryan said.

Continue reading “From Maps to Envelopes” »

The Shredded Collection

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Feb 102011

furniture from recycled magazine shreddings and apoxy with an aluminum frame.

Your favorite magazines will get a second life in this new furniture made from designer Jens Praet. Jens Praet is designing furniture based off of shredded magazine paper. The furniture is constructed with an aluminum frame encased inside of an apoxy and paper scrap mix. The scrap and apoxy mix is poured into a mold for the furniture where it then hardens into tables and chairs.

Praers’ furniture always sells out after completion. His work is generally priced around $5,000 dollars a set. His most recent piece is also his biggest, being a six-foot-long mammoth table. It is currently on display at the Industry Gallery in Washington D.C. where it will be until February 26, 2011 and then will be sold.

The idea of making something from recycled material is not new, and in fact it has

The newest six foot table.

become a generational fad to do so. But Praers recycled work not only does justice to the planet and sustainability, but also to literature.

3 Rings design blog took an interesting stance to the Prear recycling collection stating:

“I think the next step for Jens Praet is to turn his Shredded Collection into a flat-pack, do-it-yourself kit. Imagine the possibilities for getting rid of your own collection of forgotten magazines—how satisfying it would be to create a personalized table out of years of previous reading material. This might even be a cathartic affair, like cleaning out your closets or organizing your photographs. In terms of emotional release, the home version of the Shredded Table may be the best prescription for angst-filled writers. The bards could accomplish more (in less time) than years’ worth of psychotherapy. Forget the Freudian couch! With the do-it-yourself table, writers could destroy the work of their nemeses: tear up the prose and verse of fellow writers (ah, the sound of ripping paper—sweet as a symphony). Actually, I should think bigger. Anyone could get a deep sense of satisfaction from shredding paper: jilted sweethearts could tear up their awful love letters; and tax evaders could reduce their IRS notices to confetti. Alas, the Shredded Collection hasn’t reached this point yet (but you can keep your fingers crossed)!” (Rodriguez, Alicita)

The recycled work is attractive and aesthetically appealing, it looks shiny at first glance but looking closer you can see the individual strips of glossy paper in the material. Prear’s work as well as many others being created out of re-used products are a statement to a future building upon what waste we already have to work with.

Sources:

http://inhabitat.com/jens-praet-unveils-table-made-from-shredded-fast-company-magazines/

(Rodriguez, Alicita) http://3rings.designerpages.com/2011/01/28/shredded-collection-grows-with-6-table/

http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/8/view/13178/studio-jens-praet-shredded-collection.html

Beautiful, repeat: Beautiful Home built from Recycled Materials

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Jan 032011

Take a look at these pictures of a home built from top to bottom, inside and out, with recycled materials. This house is made from corks, to picture frames, wine bottles, roofing material and much more. See if you can name off all the materials you see.