Barbara Prinčič
Country: Slovenia
RE-LAX urban equipment – a bench and a chair
Urban and Public Design
The challenge for the project was the fact that Slovenian port Luka Koper discards annually around 20 tons of cargo fastening belts, made of polyester which are sent to incineration plant. In cooperation with the company, some design proposals for the extension of belts’ lifespan are in development, among them the sitting urban equipment. The project presents the bench and the single urban chair. Structure is made of two different (usually discarded) polyester plastics, beside PES belts also PES non-woven fabric known as felt. Felt is thermoformed to obtain the main stiff construction part-the profiled panel. Five or four of them together create the construction’s plastic block. Two blocks, between them a 130 cm distance, are combined with intertwined belts, arranged in a special pattern, creating tense but soft and thin sitting surface. Metal beam beneath is there to assure and fix the plastic blocks’ position and stability. Orange belts running through plastic blocks on one side and then back to another side help to fasten the plastic panels. Belts create a certain pattern on a block’s surface. Those patterns could vary. The graphic studies of that pattern design are added in visual material. Urban equipment is designed for disassembly. It is completely modular. Each single thermoformed panel or each belt can be replaced if necessary. Both PES materials are durable and resistant to any weather conditions except UV rays which would result in slight colour change if exposed to sun. Urban equipment can be placed in any town and in any environment. The idea is that primarily this urban equipment should be placed in the city of Koper and in other nearby seaside areas. It is about strengthening the identity of the city through its port. Besides it would be a strong message and information to society what circularity of materials and resources really means. To reuse and not to throw away.
