UnLimited 双肩背包 by Kuan-Hua Chou is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2020 A' Design Award 铜奖 in 可持续产品、项目与绿色设计 Competition Category.

铜可持续产品· 2020

UnLimited 双肩背包

by Kuan-Hua Chou

Client: Kuan-hua Chou

A' Design Award 铜奖 Winner in 可持续产品 Category

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The Design

About UnLimited 双肩背包

UnLimited 是一款专为城市骑行者设计的可回收双肩背包。背包完全防水，容量可调节。风琴式折叠结构使包体能够扩展以容纳临时物品，也可压缩成纤薄造型，从而提升骑行灵活性。UnLimited 采用单一材料制成——一种具有不同硬度层级的可回收热塑性弹性体，并通过热熔焊接密封成型。大多数背包由多种材料复合而成，回收难度大。而单一材料结构则有助于产品在使用寿命结束后实现再利用与回收。

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award 铜奖

UnLimited 双肩背包是 A' Design Award 铜奖得主，这是授予以创造力、独创性和敏锐见长的杰出设计的极具声望的认可。铜奖得主是技艺娴熟、创意惊人的作品，印证了其设计师丰富的经验、想象力与机智。预计UnLimited 双肩背包将成为一件备受推崇、令人钦佩且被珍爱的物品，兼具显著的专业性与创新性。这件赢得 A' Design Award 铜奖的设计融入艺术、科学、设计和技术领域的最佳实践，并因注重细节而出类拔萃。UnLimited 双肩背包出色地满足需求，触动渴望，迷住情感，并吸引好奇心。

Behind the Design

Press Kit

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

Unique Properties: UnLimited is a recyclable, fully waterproof and size adjustable backpack tailored to the needs of an urban slow cyclist. This project aims to demonstrate the unlimited and limited requirements of space and material through a daily backpack. It can both expand to accommodate unexpected items and compress to keep the backpack streamlined to allow for better mobility.
Dimensions & Packaging: 290 mm x 410 mm x (20~150) mm, 860 g
Tags: backpack, material, exploration, sustainable, plastics, responsible consumption and production, slow cycling, commuting, unlimited, limited
Production Technology: The concept and production focus on concertina structure, material features and plastic production methods. Following the design philosophy for 'design of reduction', the backpack is sealed by heat welding and made of mono-material DuPont Hytrel, or similar recyclable thermoplastic elastomers with different levels of hardness. This feature is in stark contrast to the backpacks on the market today, which are multi-material and hard to recycle.
Design Challenge: How to bring DuPont Hytrel from industrial usages to daily life market is the first challenge of this project. Another barrier is to search suitable hardness and thickness for the concertina structure, which should provide an instantly positive user experience.
Research: The design research was conducted through material exploration firstly and discovering the target audience and market through survey, road observation and 1:1 interview.
Inspiration: Plastics that improve with age. The project is to design a product, with recyclable plastic, that is sustainable and creates a genuine bond with the user. An object that improves with age and counters some of the negative attributes often attributed to plastics such as cheap, transient and unemotional. Considering the longevity of a solution but also its place in a circular economy. What is its service life, how can it be reused, recycled or repurposed if it comes to the end of its useful life?
Project Duration: The material research started from visiting DuPont Geneva Innovation Center in October 2016. The concept development was implemented during the springs of 2017 and 2018 in London, following a release in the 2018 degree show at the Royal College of Art. The latest prototype was made in November 2019 in Tainan.
Operation Flow: Enough? Enough! UnLimited provides cyclists space depends on their needs. However, for the limitation of a bike, cyclists should not be a greedy user. They have to ensure the load they carry can keep their journey comfortable, not an obstacle. The project reflects balance and interaction between cyclists and their freedom of bringing as much as they can or as less as they can.
Patents: Copyrights belong to Kuan-hua Chou, 2018.
Image Credits: Photographer: Kuan-hua Chou

VIDEO CREDITS:
Filmmaker: Hiroki Yokoyama
Composer: Eternity Bro
Starring: Victoria Lynn-Hamilton, Anthony Fanna, Beatrice Maione