MEMORIAL

The message of the project

"Memorial" challenges the responsibility of light(ing) designers in terms of material, functionality, and obsolescence, while also questioning the link between design, manufacturing, and consumption. "Memorial" will help to improve the living environment on multiple levels.

It will begin by providing new life to e-waste, which is now accumulating in remote areas of our world and being only partially repurposed or recycled. They are also protecting the Earth's natural resources, which have been recklessly abused.

The idea behind the project 

‘Memorial’s’ partners share a common interest and love for sustainable design methods, and they critically investigate their material environment and translate it into their various design disciplines, lighting and recycling plastic. Crafts and design complement one another and contribute to the overall objective.

The effort began with the gathering of discarded led light bulbs from their city's landfills. Approximately 48% of them are still operational (fully and partly). By researching and deconstructing a luminous body (a lamp), they discovered that the quantity of precious elements such as gold and silver, rare earth and technology metals is so great that they could not ignore the necessity to recycle and reuse them even if they wanted to. Furthermore, led bulbs are developed and manufactured with very durable, heat and impact resistant plastic, a material that is incorrectly seen as disposable.

The goal of this project is to create a light item (a module) out of led light bulb waste. The plan is to design and manufacture a new circuit board using the gathered led chips, as well as rework and reuse the plastic material for the construction of the translucent light diffuser and components with their partner.

The project's goal is not just to provide these highly valuable materials a second life, but also to research new methods of designing light waste while considering their death. They intend to decrease the need for new raw materials, increase the value of trash and old goods by reusing what is currently available (old LED chips + high grade plastic), and get closer to a regenerative design process.

The beauty of the initiative is the purchasers' engagement and connection to the trash they helped to eliminate by purchasing one of these lighting modules. It is the cause of the light that will shine.

What next?

Designers must take accountability for what they make and how they influence our future environment in collaboration with the manufacturing industry.

The project's partners see design as a societal issue that affects everyone, and we hope that by raising the question of how frequently we dispose of and replace products without fully understanding the consequences, we can raise awareness not only among lighting specialists but also among end users.

The beauty of the programme is the consumers' involvement and connection to the waste they helped decrease by purchasing one of these lighting modules. It is what causes the light to glow.