Print Your City has gone from prototypes to the real thing with New Raw’s Zero Waste Lab in Thessaloniki, Greece, where individuals can have their trash turned into urban furniture. Although plastic is designed to be reused, we often chuck it, tossing out a potential glorious bench.
“Plastic has a design failure,” said New Raw founders Panos Sakkas and Foteini Setaki, according to New Atlas. “It is designed to last forever, but often we use it once and then throw it away. With Print Your City, we endeavor to show a better way of using plastic in long lasting and high value applications.”
Now, the Print Your City initiative and New Raw’s studio has transformed the plastic waste circle by creating functional furniture with a large-scale 3D printer. The lab has also served as an educational dwelling where locals can learn more about the recycling process and get a hands-on approach to designing furniture for their local neighborhood.
The first prototypes were 3D-printed in 2018 and range from benches to pots. Each product took approximately 12 hours to print and used a whopping 220 lb. of plastic waste.
“Citizens can shape the designs and uses of each unique object according to their needs,” said the project in a press release. “They can choose which public space will house their piece, as well as the shape, color, and specific integrated functions that will promote a healthy and environment-friendly lifestyle in the city. Each object can feature a bike rack or a vaulting horse, a tree pot or even a dog feeding bowl or a bookcase. What’s more, the geometries are based on ergonomic curvatures that accommodate a relaxed body posture.”
Since the project website has launched in December 2018, locals have submitted over 3,000 designs. The first examples of the 3D-printed furniture is currently being installed in Thessaloniki’s Hanth Park. New Raw hopes to recycle a total of four tons of plastic waste during the project’s operation.
Filed Under: 3D printing • additive manufacturing • stereolithography, Rapid prototyping
