Designers are Answers
- Howeson Lu-
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Mickey Mouse Home of the Future Competition : Builder's Blox
"Build your future"
The Project in one sentence:
We created a set of building blocks that could be used to create any type of furniture for children.
Walt Disney in collaboration with DesignExchange and OCAD U launched a competition for designing for "Home of the future" for Mickey. The foundation of the project is two standard shipping containers that will be repurposed into the new home.
Our team chose the bedroom and envisioned a furniture set that is creativity-oriented, multifunctional and sustainable.
Client: WaltDisney, OCADU, DesignExchange
Teammate: Kevin Yao,Tracy Yang,Simon Su
Date: 09/28/2017
Design brief
Creating a sustainable bedroom furniture that would fit the theme of Mickey Mouse's Home of the future, align with the spirit of Walt-Disney and brings the family together as a functional object.
Solution
A modular furniture piece that could become whatever the user wants it to be. Most module is filled with recycled polyester, and its outer coating could be removed and washed. Each piece could be bound together and secured with velcro straps.
What we want to leave with the next generation
One of the biggest teachings that our group wanted to pass on to the next generation is the awareness of consumerism. That we should always cherish what we already have and prioritize problem solving with what is at hand before jumping to buying as a solution.
With this project and this design, we hope that the next generation would learn from a young age to reuse, and become resourceful individuals that can problem-solve when they face shortages of resources.
Ideation phase
Sustainability in the design of Builder's Blox
Our group did not want the project to be another simple eye-pleaser that is "green" but not sustainable. So we took a few steps further to ensure the Builder's Blox delivered a sustainable business model that had a positive impact for both Disney as a company, but also users that got the product. We done so by choosing materials that can be easily maintained and recycled, like low density EVA foam.
Once the Builder's Blox gets old and actually torn up (which will take lots of effort and tons of abuse) specific bloxes can be replaces with new ones. The old blox can be easily broken down into raw materials feeding back into the technical metabolism. In this cradle-to-cradle model we eliminate waste by creating a system which waste is the raw material for another system.
Calculations made for the amount of material that is needed for a standard package.
Designing the Shape and how blox can be stacked for shipping to minimize cost
Designing how each unit can stack on each other.
The Standard Unit
A standard package
Like most toy sets, the Builder's Blox comes in a standard set that includes:
- A foundation with 4 legs
- Regular shapes that acts as foundations
- Irregular shapes that demands more effort to work
- Straps designed to mimic Mickey's straps that act as "tape" that can secure unstable structures by force.
- A special Blox that makes each package different. For example, in the standard package, the special Blox is the Mickey storage unit that contains all the connection velcros. This also gives room for this product to grow as it can collaborate with new releases of the franchise.
Builder's Blox
"Build your future"
