The Plastic Factory
communicating sustainability at Kingston School of Art
“ The world we have is the product of our way of thinking”, A. Einstein
“ Fabrication is where many of the environmental and social impacts lie”, E. Daschefski
Sustainability is a complex notion that can be difficult to grasp. The Plastic Factory was an answer to the brief requiring to articulate sustainability within the Kingston School of Art campus in order to become easily understood by students, staff and visitors.
‘Precious Plastics’ project by Dave Hakkens inspired the implementation of The Plastic Factory on the grounds of KSA. Precious Plastic is an open source platform with a number of analogue machines developed to recycle and reuse plastics.
The Plastic Factory was built and installed to communicate the concept of circular sustainability in design, materials and production; to add more value to the motto of ‘thinking through making’; to inspire and integrate future thinking & making methodology. The machines (Shredder, Injection moulder & Hot Press) were also intended to help utilize the waste from around the campus and thus The Plastic Factory bins have been placed at various points across the university and student halls of residence.
The Plastic Factory has also been exhibited at such events as Manufactory at Old Spitalfields Market during London Design Festival '17 & Interdisciplinary Week at KSA.
Since the instalment of The Plastic Factory at The KSA in September 2017, it has been used by many students from various courses and has made an appearance in many projects including graduate ones.
Design - Oksana Bondar, Ed Houghton, Milo Tory Brown