Bruxelles Environnement
We have put together a product in progress that is manufactured in Brussels.
Context
Belexpo is an exhibition, by Bruxelles Environnement, about the environment, the city and the climate. It is mainly addressed to children from 10 to 14 years old.
This exhibition is highly interactive, very successful, and thus challenged and worn by its many mini-visitors.
For an ultimate experience of the exhibition, the visitors are given a watch to go over their wrists and that activates the many challenges of the exhibition. The watch allows the interaction between the visitors and the elements of the exhibition and is a crucial tool for Belexpo.
Bruxelles Environnement has witnessed a rapid degeneration of the bracelets holding the watches and could not access space parts to replace them with. Not that the replacement would have been smooth anyway. We have been asked to look into this problem, analyse it, and research to find a solution that listens to the needs of both the user and the staff handling the product everyday. The brief is to develop new bracelets for the watches of Belexpo
Product specifications
Adjustable
Easily fixed around the wrist
Respects hygiene conditions/ easily cleanable
Sustainable, long lasting, and easily replaceable.
Work in Progress
We have put together a product in progress that is manufactured in Brussels, partially by us, HIER, and partially by our recurrent collaborator, L’Ouvroir.
L’Ouvroir is an association located in the heart of Brussels. It is an initiative carried by people with disabilities wanting to be engaged and participate in their society. Together, despite their disabilities, they built a workshop where they undertake varied manual/productive activities.
They are producing the fabric part of the bracelet while we are modelling and 3D printing the details adapting to the existing watch and holding together the fabric bracelet.
For the fabric part of the bracelet, we chose Nylon. A recyclable strong plastic, resistant, and cleanable by machine. We have designed the 3D printed details in a way that allows the team to easily remove the nylon bracelet and clean it in a washing machine. This nylon bracelet has a Velcro sewn on it by l’Ouvroir making the bracelet easily fixable around the wrist of both an adult and a child; the velcro making the whole adjustable.
For the 3D printed parts, we have chosen to work with PLA which later becomes an industrial compost, recyclable. We have printed these parts in 5 different colours to facilitate recognising the charged watches from others. Those 3D printed parts are easily mountable and replaceable, making their maintenance smooth.
The design is adaptable, adjustable, and efficient. We chose to concentrate the production in Brussels, to make sure that the products are easily reproduced or repaired without any need for costly maintenance equipment. We have listened to the needs of our client, Bxl. Env., worked on different options, together with them and l’Ouvroir, to come up with this version of the product in process; the fruit of our triangular collaboration.
More information about:
Belexpo or Bruxelles Environnement
The galvanised era - MAD LAB
MAD LAB, funded by the public sector, is an incubator for young designers in Brussels.
Now, MAD LAB and its residents occupy the 13th and last floor of the highest social housing tower in Rue Haute, Brussels, Belgium, Europe, Earth.
And MAD LAB said: 'Let there be galvanised!'
MAD LAB, funded by the public sector, is an incubator for young designers in Brussels.
Now, MAD LAB and its residents occupy the 13th and last floor of the highest social housing tower in Rue Haute, Brussels, Belgium, Europe, Earth.
Formerly a daycare for the building, the space is a succession of pool blue tiled studios, separated by glass walls, with windows surrounding from all sides, looking at Brussels.
This floor needed deep cleaning, the holes patching, the studios privacy, and the whole, a touch of non clinical lighting and a spread of green.
MAD LAB had to stamp its presence there. Refurbish while occupying. This new era, marked by the metallic, is referred to as the galvanised era.
Pictures by Eline Willaert
Brasserie de la Senne
Design a beer glass specifically for the brewery, one that is not picked from a catalogue
Design a beer glass specifically for the brewery, one that is not picked from a catalogue
A particular care should be given for the conservation of the foam
The straight sides of the glass (which is not common in beer glasses) is a “vitrine” for the beer
The converging neck tightens the aromas
The aim was to design a glass that is in between the calice of a special beer and the simple glass of the table beer, perfectly representing the philosophy of Brasserie de la senne, a beer for connoisseurs, without elitism.
Water Bank
A permanent fountain for the city of Brussels. Designed to stay. To resist. To promote Vivaqua tap water. As a drinking water.
A permanent fountain for the city of Brussels. Designed to stay. To resist. To promote Vivaqua tap water. As a drinking water.
The fountain is completely produced by the maintenance workshops of Vivaqua.
The design takes into consideration the maintenance, and all the parts are easily accessible and replaceable.
Photos by: MIKO/MIKO Studio
The water exit cannot be contaminated. The design provides surfaces for branding. And for tagging. And a step for children not be jumping.
