Nov 6, 2007

Design with Recovered Petroleum Byproducts

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Brazilian eco-design studio Gueto, previously featured by us here, has launched its new line of products. These are result of an association with Brazil’s biggest petrol company (Petrobras) and Sebrae, an agency that supports entrepreneurship initiatives. The goal was to design products from recovered petroleum byproducts along with a community from Canoas City, located in Rio Grande do Sul State, 20 kilometers away from its capital, Porto Alegre.


Finished designs include a line of jewelry and bags from straps of rubber coming from the automobile industry (knitted by members of the community), small panels from EVA rubber scraps that can be applied to walls as decoration or covering, and a series of lamps produced with scraps of acrylic and PET bottles.


More, bigger pictures in the extended.



Before the design process began, the studio analyzed different types of waste, considering the continuity of the material production, its plasticity, toxicity and possibility of working it with manual skills. The chosen materials were plastic bags, PET bottles, automobile rubber scraps, acrylic felt and EVA rubber.


The different types of waste were used in their original shape, avoiding creating new waste.


The name for the project, explains Karin Wittmann Wilsmann, one of the designers at Gueto, has to do with the qualities of a canoe, the boat that gave name to this town (Canoa is Portuguese for canoe).


“We chose the name Projeto Canoa because it reflects a peculiar characteristic of the boat that gave name to this city: the canoe opens ways through the water giving people opportunities, and this project unveils paths for sustainable growth of the inhabitants of the region.”, says the designer.


Other designers from Brazil that have been working with indigenous communities include Oficina Nomade. Check their work here.


Find out more about Gueto and get in touch with them at their website. ::Gueto Studio


gueto_canoa_project_jewels.jpg
The line of accessories from recovered rubber straps from the automobile industry.


gueto_canoa_project_rubber.jpg
A close-up on the knitted rubber.


gueto_canoa_project_workers.jpg
Workers knitting the rubber from the automobile industry to make accessories and jewelry.
Source: treehugger

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