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Issue 62 - Living in the Environment Issue

Issue 62

Living in the Environment Issue

Issue 62 is the first issue of the year and always a great time to put our best foot forward. With Adam Goodrum, the loveliest man in design, as Guest Editor, we draw on his insights as a furniture designer, artist and educator to look at the makers shaping our design world. Sustainability has never been more important, and increasingly this is a consideration from the start with projects designed to address their immediate environment as well as the longevity of the planet. From the coldest winters to the most tropical of summers, addressing how we live in the environment is crucial to creating the perfect home.

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 While scientists, designers and engineers search for a way to lower transport’s environmental impact, student Alexander Vittouris suggests the answer hides in the garden. 
 


 

 

Finalist for the Australian Design Award James Dyson Award, the ‘Ajiro’ is a personal mobility vehicle that can literally be grown by its user.

Based on the practice of arborsculpture, student designer Alexander Vittouris found that by utilizing bamboo to form Ajiro’s structure he was simultaneously unlocking the door to clean footprint transport that, within time, could be accessible to all. 

Intervening with bamboo at initial growth stage and moulding it over a reusable skeletal substructure, Vittouris learnt that the plant would maintain its shape and form a sound base for an urban vehicle.

 

 

“It was about rethinking current manufacturing processes, to approach construction as a natural growing process and let the plant itself achieve more of the fabrication,” he explains.

He chose bamboo for its rapid growth rate (incredibly, it bears the potential of growing as much as one metre every 24 hour period) and for its structural stability.

Added to this, the broad range of species available means that this concept can be adopted and utilized locally.

 

 

 

The very act of growing one’s own vehicle and being part of its development process, results in a level of bonding between vehicle and rider. 

In turn, Vittouris hopes that people will learn that “material worth is beyond that of ‘discardability,’ [and that] one’s own efforts, witnessing growth, creates a tangible link to the very history of the product.” 

 

See Vittouris’ Australian Design Award application at:

Australian Design Award James Dyson Award

Student.designaward.com.au

 


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Issue 62 - Living in the Environment Issue

Issue 62

Living in the Environment Issue

Issue 62 is the first issue of the year and always a great time to put our best foot forward. With Adam Goodrum, the loveliest man in design, as Guest Editor, we draw on his insights as a furniture designer, artist and educator to look at the makers shaping our design world. Sustainability has never been more important, and increasingly this is a consideration from the start with projects designed to address their immediate environment as well as the longevity of the planet. From the coldest winters to the most tropical of summers, addressing how we live in the environment is crucial to creating the perfect home.

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