Eco-cart
"If you can change the street, you can change the world." Janette Sadik-Khan
● What was the concept behind the project?
The concept behind this cart is based on the idea of sustainable cities, in which everyone who is part of the society can contribute as far as possible to make an impact in our environment.
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that we need to redesign our streets and cities in order to make it a place we want to stay longer and feel healthy. The people would want to emerge from the lockdown and use the streets the same way they use a park (connected with nature), we can start by changing the urban architecture and making it more eco-friendly.
Therefore, the peddlers (who are a very important part of the community and an increasing part nowadays) are able to change and put up the way we use our streets. That is why in this concept I propose the use of moss working as a air purifier, cleaning the environment and absorbing the pollution. The cart’s structure is made out of steel, wood and fabric which are some of the materials everyone can have easy access to.
Imagine a place full of trees in which you can buy fruits, goods or even cooked food as well as a place in which you can breathe without fearing the air quality. I do not think the future of these places will be high tech or mediated by screens, I think that on the contrary it will be interconnected with nature, away from pollution
● Which methods of design investigation?
When it comes to design investigation, I went to the streets during some days trying to see and talk to the user (the street seller) identifying their daily life necessities and how to solve them.
I realized that they did not have much knowledge when it comes to high tech sources such as smartphones or apps, so I decided to give them some tools in which they can rely and boost their way of working.
In addition, I identify some of the object they commonly use and sources they have easy access, such as plastic containers which are everywhere and they use them in many ways (see picture below)
● What/How were the materials chosen?
The materials were chosen by some of the actual materials they already use such as wood, metal and fabric. These materials are easy to manipulate, made for the outdoor spaces and user accessible.
