Junkyard Diving — Exploring and creating out of our waste

The shortage of energy and resources faced by many countries in recent times has urged us to rethink our supply chains and devise new ways of limiting consumption. In this scenario, designers play a mediating role between manufacturers and users, and must consider the full life cycle of the products they conceive and develop. During a week-long workshop with designer Philippe Malouin, the Bachelor Industrial Design students from ECAL / University of Art and Design Lausanne undertook a process of reverse exploration. Inspired by the waste items found in a metal recycling centre, the students proposed new functions for them, generating a new vocabulary of forms for one of the most overproduced materials of our time. The project underlines the existing yet under-exploited opportunities for recycling, which design must unveil.