I used to be a wine barrel… and now I’m a chess board.
Wine companies worldwide may be trying to ‘go green’ by producing organic wines (the wineries of the Middle East being no exception), but even so there is non eco-friendly waste associated with making vino. A winery in the Israeli Negev desert has being using solar power to meet its energy needs for the past few years, but what about all of the materials that go into producing wine?
In order to address this issue, the wineries of the Golan region in Israel recently teamed up with the Industrial Design Department at the Holon Institute of Technology (HIT) to challenge young designers to find ways to upcycle used oak wine barrels. Assisted by Ori Ben Zvi of Tel Aviv’s upcycling Studio Ubico, the designers came up with a bunch of creative ways to use the wooden barrels, prototypes of which will be exhibited this week in Tel Aviv.
The exhibition will open tonight, and tomorrow Ori Ben Zvi will be speaking about new trends in global recycled design. On the 11th the students will present their work and explain their designs to the audience.
“The project offered the students an opportunity to examine how you approach a recycling project while assessing the relevant processes for developing a recycled object, on the one hand,” Ben Zvi said, “and on the other hand it allowed them to explore the world of cultural contexts of the wine world.”
The events will be accompanied by good wine, to remind the viewers where the design pieces originated from. “Since the project was undertaken with the cooperation of a very specific winery that is significant in and sells mostly in the Israeli market,” Ben Zvi continued, “great emphasis was placed on the Israeliness of the products and the Israeli wine realm.”
The I Used to be a Wine Barrel exhibit will take place at the Tel Aviv Port between the 8th – 12th of July.
Images (in order of appearance): Chess board by Einav Ben Asher, Chaise lounge chair by Sagi Benshalom, Floating serving platter by Geut Gonen
Read more about upcycled design::
Ten Sustainable Israeli Designers Who Reduce, Reuse & Recycle
Meet Hana Faouri – the Upcycling Designer from Jordan
Tel Aviv Port’s “Pop-Up Design Store” Features Many Upcycling Designers
Author: Karen Chernick
Much to the disappointment of her Moroccan grandmother, Karen became a vegetarian at the age of seven because of a heartfelt respect for other forms of life. She also began her journey to understand her surroundings and her impact on the environment. She even starting an elementary school Ecology Club and an environmental newsletter in the 3rd grade. (The proceeds of the newsletter went to non-profit environmental organizations, of course.) She now studies in New York. Karen can be reached at karen (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
