Plastic Recurrence Oche Ọha by HIR Studio

Plastic Recurrence Oche Ọha by HIR Studio is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2021 Ihe Nrite A' Design Award nke Ọlaọcha in Nhazi Ngwá Ụlọ Competition Category.

ỌlaọchaNgwá Ụlọ· 2021

Plastic Recurrence Oche Ọha

by HIR Studio

Client: HIR Studio

Ihe Nrite A' Design Award nke Ọlaọcha Winner in Ngwá Ụlọ Category

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The Design

About Plastic Recurrence Oche Ọha

Plastic Recurrence bụ usoro nke oche ọha ndị e ji plastic mkpofu nke ezinụlọ e megharịrị ọzọ mee. Emere oche iri na abụọ ndị a maka ụlọ nzukọ obodo nke otu mpaghara na Hong Kong, jiri plastic e chịkọtara site n'otu mpaghara ahụ. A na-akpakọta oche ọ bụla site na ụdị modul abụọ naanị, nke a na-emegharị na ogologo na ntụgharị dị iche iche. Modul ndị a tụgharịrị na-emepụta ọdịdị gbagoro nke na-echetara ripụl dị n'osimiri. Ọdịdị mmetụ aka na agba na-ahaghị nhata na-eme ka oche ọ bụla dị iche. Ọdịdị gbagoro ahụ na-ekewa ndị ọrụ nwayọọ nwayọọ ma na-enye ụmụaka ohere ịnọdụ ala n'ọnọdụ nzọ ọ bụla ọ masịrị ha.

The Recognition

About the Ihe Nrite A' Design Award nke Ọlaọcha

Plastic Recurrence Oche Ọha meriri A' Design Award nke Ọlaọcha, nnabata dị oke ugwu e nyere design ndị dị n'ọkwa kachasị elu, mara mma ma na-eju anya. Ndị meriri na Ọlaọcha bụ ọrụ na-egbu maramara nke ukwuu ma dị oke nzụlite nke na-egosi ọmarịcha ihe ọmụma, talent na nghọta nke ndị designer ha. A na-atụ anya na Plastic Recurrence Oche Ọha ga-abụ ọrụ dị ịtụnanya, ihe nlereanya, nke dị oke ọrụ ma dị omimi n'ihe ọhụrụ. Design a meriri A' Design Award nke Ọlaọcha bụ ihe e mepụtara dị oke ịrịba ama, nke a na-eto nke na-erite uru ma na-ebuga oke nka, sayensị, design na teknụzụ n'ihu. Plastic Recurrence Oche Ọha bụ ihe e kere eke ọtụtụ ndị na-ekwo ekworo ya nke na-akpali ọchịchọ, na-eweta mmetụta ọma ma na-akpali ịtụnanya.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: Plastic Recurrence is a series of benches designed for a district town hall in Hong Kong, by using recycled household plastic waste from the same district.
The series were made of only two typical modules assembled in varied lengths and rotations. Tactile textures and imperfect colour of recycled plastic render each bench unique.
What's taken from the community is used back in the community. For the first time in Hong Kong, the local experienced the joyous rebirth of plastic waste recycled.
Dimensions & Packaging: Number of benches in the series: 12
Dimensions: type1- 1500mm, type2- 2000mm, type3- 5000mm

The design is adaptable by assembling different numbers of plastic modules invarious rotations, installed in the factory.
Tags: Recycled Plastic, Adaptable, Modules, Ripples, Textural, Public Bench
Production Technology: In collaboration with some community organisations in the neighbourhood, HIR studio collected household plastics during the weekend events, as the local residents in Hong Kong helped to categorise the waste into the seven types of plastics. About 500 kg of HDPE bottles were collected in two months. They were then cleaned, processed and ground into pellets, prior to transporting to the furniture factory in China. In the furniture factory two steel moulds were used for rotary moulds in the big oven. Five hundred plastic modules were produced and drilled with CNC controls, which were subsequently fixed with steel tie rods into the twelve benches in varied lengths and forms.
Design Challenge: With no more furniture factories in Hong Kong, the production of plastic needs to be done in an industrial town in China. China customs only allows plastic waste import in the form of recycled pellets. So plastic waste needs to be first processed and granulated in HK, which pushes up the overall transportation costs. While the public's habit of recycling plastic is not popular due to a lack of facilities and motivation, the recycled plastic pellets are often of low qualities, poorly categorised and structurally unsound, This makes the manufacturing process difficult , as we tried to optimize the proportion of recycled plastic without compromising the benches' structural safety.
Research: We researched the feasibility to adopt recycled plastic as a building material, for the first time in Hong Kong. The objective is to alleviate the problem of plastic pollution and to reduce the consumption of new materials. About 20,000 household plastic bottles were collected, processed, and transformed into a dozen benches after a year. The manufacturing process is hardly cost-effective, whereas regional customs policy is not intended to raise the quality of recycled pellets. We as designers can help to change this by letting the public appreciate the beauty of recycled products, hence motivating people to recycle better and supervise the industry.
Inspiration: The legendary river in town was polluted by plastic waste for years. To raise public awareness, our design shares the fruit of recycling with the community by collecting household plastic waste from them. As more people appreciate the value of upcycled plastic they will be more motivated to pick up the habit of recycling. Every bench is made by assembling numerous moulded modules, each identical, yet rotated to a specific angle to form curvilinear shapes like the ripples on a river.
Project Duration: The project started in February 2019 in Shatin, Hong Kong. Materials were collected in Shatin, processed in another town that is 30km away, and manufactured in a Chinese factory that is 130km away. The project ends in March 2020 in Shatin, Hong Kong.
Operation Flow: Profiles, grooves and textures are designed in the mould to render the benches' surface tactile.The curvilinear form shapes like the ripples on a river, and naturallyseparates the users for better privacy. The slanting humps also offer freedom for children to sit on them in unexpected postures.
Patents: /
Team Members: Irene Cheng
Howard Chung
Jeannie Ho
Carlson Kwan
Krisana Wong
Image Credits: Image #1: HDP Photography, 2020
Image #2: HDP Photography, 2020
Image #3: HDP Photography, 2020
Image #4: HDP Photography, 2020
Image #5: HDP Photography, 2020
Video Credits: Make Some Noise Workshop, HK Wong, 2020