The Bänk // A bench built by the community for the community
@preciousplastic_esslingen with @vicentevarella2 wanted to make a product with the local community. The outcome of the collaboration is called The Bänk: a bench made together with the local community. It serves as a physical representation of how plastic can be a valuable material. The bench was constructed at the @kommaesslingen workspace in an open environment, allowing people to drop by and help make the product.
To show how easy it is to design with recycled plastic, The Bänk was made using commonly found tools. „Using basic tools we wanted to bring a closer and more approachable take on hard topics like plastic pollution, but more noticeably to show how you don’t need fancy equipment or expensive technology to make a sustainable design.“ – @preciousplastic_esslingen
@preciousplastic_esslingen and @vicentevarella2 designed the bench to use the three 1×1 m sheets (44kg of polystyrene) to their fullest potential. They arranged the cuts on the sheets to leave almost no offcuts. Also, they manually formed the plastic into three „U“ shapes to ensure the strength of each leg and optimise the amount of material put into them. The pieces are connected using screws so, if need be, they can be easily disassembled and recycled.
The Bänk made it to the final round of the RoGUILTLESSPLASTIC awards and will be shown during the Milan Design Week from June 3rd to June 12th.
