Plastic Recurrence Openbare Bank by HIR Studio is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2021 A' Design Award in Zilver in Meubelontwerp Competition Category.
ZilverMeubels· 2021
Plastic Recurrence Openbare Bank
by HIR Studio
Client: HIR Studio
A' Design Award in Zilver Winner in Meubels Category
Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #120840The Design
About Plastic Recurrence Openbare Bank
Plastic Recurrence is een serie openbare banken gemaakt van gerecycled plastic huishoudelijk afval. De twaalf banken werden ontworpen voor een districtsraadhuis in Hongkong, met plastic dat in hetzelfde district werd ingezameld. Elke bank is samengesteld uit slechts twee moduletypes, herhaald in verschillende lengtes en rotaties. De geroteerde modules vormen gebogen vormen die doen denken aan rimpelingen op een rivier. Tactiele texturen en ongelijke kleuren maken elke bank uniek. De gebogen vorm scheidt gebruikers op subtiele wijze en laat kinderen in vrije houdingen zitten.
The Recognition
About the A' Design Award in Zilver
Plastic Recurrence Openbare Bank is winnaar van de A' Design Award in Zilver, een buitengewoon prestigieuze erkenning die wordt toegekend aan topontwerpen die prachtig en indrukwekkend zijn. Winnaars in Zilver zijn enorm briljante en uiterst creatieve werken die de uitmuntende expertise, het talent en de scherpzinnigheid van hun ontwerpers illustreren. Plastic Recurrence Openbare Bank wordt verwacht een prachtig paradepaardje te zijn dat opmerkelijk professioneel en diepgaand innovatief is. Dit ontwerp dat de A' Design Award in Zilver heeft gewonnen, is een hoogst opmerkelijke, bewonderde uitvinding die baat en de grenzen van kunst, wetenschap, ontwerp en technologie verlegt. Plastic Recurrence Openbare Bank is een zeer benijde creatie die verlangens oproept, positieve gevoelens brengt en verbazing en verwondering doet ontvlammen.
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
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- 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
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