How ZO_loft Brings New Thinking to Portable Shelter Design

ZO-loft, a four-person architecture and design studio base in Italy, has designed a portable shelter concept that has many surprising and innovative aspects contained within.  Called the ZO_loft WheelLY, the shelter consists of (please refer to schematic image above) 1. a cloth bag, 2. reflecting colored rubber rim, 3. folding polyester resin tent, 4. rubber tire, 5. aluminum frame, 6. pressed paper rollers to serve as bearings, and 7. an insulating rubber disc with a sponsor’s logo on the surface (smart way of potentially reducing costs).  When opened, the shelter is ready to be inhabited for hopefully short durations, or may be used to “wheel” one’s possessions around, as it is capable of storing upwards of 250 liters of items.

(Images courtesy of ZO_loft via Treehugger.com)

Given the amount of need which exists in the world for low cost, sturdy, and quick-construction shelter, the ZO_loft WheelLY represents a strikingly innovative step forward which may indeed be applicable in the future - it still needs some issues worked out however, such as how comfortable it would be to sleep while lying over the inner edge of the tire when more space is required.  Nonetheless, this concept is another indication of how important it is for industrial designers and architects to contribute to solving the big issues which lay before us - climate change, disaster relief, widening humanitarian crises, etc.  And it is worth noting that these concepts represent a far cry from the toxic trailers provided by FEMA, for victims in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, although it appears that that problem may be getting some attention albeit years after the fact.  Perhaps the Federal Government (and FEMA leaders in particular) should take a closer look at what ZO-loft has come up with, along with the many other promising concepts for portable shelter that are being developed around the world (e.g. Daniel Schipper’s collapsible shelter concept).

ZO_loft

Crate and Barrel Releases Their “Eco” Line

Crate and Barrel has released several new products that promise to be a step in the eco-friendly direction. Slogans such as “Introducing more eco-friendly upholstery, without more expense” can be seen in their product ads. As a major distributor of housewares caught in the sustainability wave, they’ve been trying to minimize waste for some time now. From 2001-02 they worked with their stores to discontinue the use of petroleum-based foam peanuts for packaging. In April of 06 they successfully discontinued the use of foam peanuts was company-wide. In 2002, Crate and Barrel eliminated foam-in-place as a packing material.

Last year, Crate and Barrel made its vendors discontinue the use of white bleached shipping cartons. Their shopping bags for the holiday season in 07 were up to 30% post-consumer recycled material and were printed using water-based inks. In addition, the protective tissue used for shopping bags and boxes is made with 70% post-consumer waste fibers.

The Geämi Material system that they currently use for packaging employes a process where a special sheet of paper is put through a machine that expands it, cutting down on shipping costs and allowing their stores to only use what they need while saving storage space. For another innovative packaging material, see the Expandos system.

Titanium, How Is It Made?

Discovered in England during 1791 and named after the Titans of Greek mythology, Titanium has the highest strength-to-weight ratio of any metal. Industrial Designers and Architects know the amazing reputation and properties of Titanium however few outside of the aerospace and medical industries are well acquainted with the manufacturing process. This video from The Science Channel covers the production process in several steps. For more information about the history and production of this amazing high-tech material, click here…

Looking for A Scrap Resource?

Material Scraps is a reseller. They add new listings frequently to their site. The scraps come from Mechmar and other manufacturers who don’t want their excess material to go to waste. You will find items such as… 7/16″ Thick x 60″ Wide Gray Wool Felt - $41.39. For more information or to visit their store, visit materialscraps.com.

Getting Material With Paper

“Papercraft” or paper models are printed and assembled by many as a hobby. Some enthusiasts are scratchbuilding their own using programs like Adobe Illustrator. Templates can be found all over the internet, ranging from quite simple to really complex. We recently stumbled upon this robot from Star Wars available for download here…