My first upcycling project, debut in 2011, Boombottle is a speaker system made from a waste plastic container. The plastic bottle is air sealed, waterproof and rugged, yet has a large internal volume, making it a nice speaker enclosure. When it is attached with speaker drives along with LED light, it becomes a portable and glow-in-the-dark speaker, perfect for playing music outdoors.
Boombottle Lite is a simplified version of the Boombottle, keeping all the essentials components but build into a plastic bottle that is 70% smaller. The wasted plastic ink container is rugged, yet has a internal volume that makes it a nice speaker enclosure. When it is attached with speaker drives, it becomes a portable speaker, perfect for sharing music and the idea of upcycling.
Dimensions/weight: 21.5 cm H x 16 cm W x 8.4 cm D (465 g)
Wireless range: up to 9 m (30 ft)
Battery life: 4 rechargeable AA batteries up to 5 hours
Rice Bell is a bicycle bell made out of wasted rice cooker bowl, which is a common waste from Asian household appliances. The aluminium dome shape creates a good resonance sound.
They come in different color, pattern and coating, which gives each bell a unique pitch sound. Like every bicycle, every rice bell carries a characteristic like no other.
The rice cooker bowl are collected from Tuen Mun Eco-park and production are done by local metal craftsman in Hong Kong.
飯鈴是由廢棄電飯煲內膽壓製而成的單車響鈴. 電飯煲內膽是亞洲地區城市常見的電器廢料，鋁質材料壓成圓穹形就能敲出清脆響聲。
每個響鈴都保留了飯煲內不同的顏色，圖案和塗層處理，因而敲出不同的聲調。和單車一樣，每一個飯鈴都擁有獨特個性，獨一無異。
電飯煲內膽由屯門環保園回收，再由香港本地金工師傅製作生產。
Denim Case 是一系列用廢棄牛仔布加入樹脂製成的電話保護殼。 牛仔褲是一種十分耐用的衣物，隨年月穿著，布上會慢慢形成不同的紋理和痕跡，這些獨特的痕跡能夠記載住穿著者的生活習慣，經歷，甚至曾經去過的地方。但當牛仔褲完成它的歷史使命後，這些依然耐用的布料就可以再次做成貼身的電話殼，而且每個都會有它獨特的故事。
Denim Case is a series of phone cases made out of denim fabric from old jeans, formed into a thin rugged case with resin. Denim is a material made to withstand wear and tear, over the years of usage, different patterns and fading created to show how a person wears the jeans or even traced to places they have been to. After the jeans have been worn out, these unique marking can be repurpose and transform into something that can continue to be carried around and tell the story.
Wallpaper wallet is made of reclaimed high quality wall-covering material. This is constant waste from the outdated sample booklets. This wallcovering material is rugged, waterproof yet has vibrant colors and textures. Perfect to be revitalized and made into wallets with a simple and functional profile. Each wallet is different since every page of the sample booklet has an unique color and texture.
Wallpaper Holder is made of the same reclaimed high quality wall-covering materials with the same clean and functional profile, holds up to 20 cards. Each holder is unique with different vibrant colors and texture.
Feltlike is a line of bags made of leftover felt carpets collected from the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, where exhibitions and trade shows take place everyday. Decorative materials keep being removed from exhibition halls and dumped into our landfills. The synthetic felt carpet is often clean and unused. With certain thickness and softness, they provide protection for your gadgets.
Coffee tote is made of reclaimed coffee bean bag and denim sample. Coffee bean bag is made of jute fabric, an organic yet heavy duty material. Each bag is carrying dozens pound of coffee bean, coming in from over 10 different countries, delivered to The Coffee AcademÏcs roasting room located next to their outlet in Causeway Bay.After the beans are being consumed, we collected and mixed it with another rugged material, denim samples collected from factories to create the Coffee Tote. This product is 100% upcycled in Hong Kong, size big enough to carry 15” laptop and A3 size documents.
Priced at $280hkd,
available for sale at our workshop in Wanchai and all The Coffee AcademÏcs outlets.
The 1958 pattern webbing is a modular based military equipment issued to the Armed Forces of the United Kingdom, British Forces in Hong Kong as well as The Royal Hong Kong Regiment from the 1950s until mid-1990s.
These equipments were left behind by the colonial Government of Hong Kong and were then acquired by a collector before the handover in 1997. They were stored in a warehouse in Long Ping for 20 years until it was demolished. These historical equipments were originally set on their way to the landfill.
To rescue these modular webbings, they have been re-designed into durable, practical everyday backpacks, Fieldpack 58.
Download: Fieldpack 58 Manual
Bicycle, once a vital building blocks of development country, have now become a symbol of a sustainable lifestyle. Lumi-rim is a ceiling light made of discarded bicycle rims, refurbished with an translucent inner tube with LED lights underneath. Once a heavy duty rubber tire has turned into an elegant and smooth halo lighting.
Date: July 2013
Exhibited in:
- BODW 2013, IDT
Thumbiano is made out of umbrella ribs and wood from wine boxes, it is a simplified version of an ancient African instrument Kalimba. Containing 8 notes, easily play with both your thumbs. The lesson will go along with a sharing session about what is upcycling and motive behind.
By appointment: 2-10 people per class
Duration: 90mins
能夠每日返到屋企叫一聲”我返嚟喇”，其實係一件好溫暖嘅事情。至於有溫度嘅門鐘聲，一定係來自一個親手造，獨一無異嘅門鐘。
電鈴發明於19世紀嘅英國，物理學家發現電流嘅通過時候能夠產生磁力拉動鐘臂，敲響鐘聲，同時切斷電流後鐘臂返番原位，只要按住按扭呢個動作就會不斷重覆。
呢個原理同我地日常生活好多嘅電器都息息相關，透過組裝嘅過程就可以了解到個原理其實好簡單！電鈴由回收電飯煲內膽壓製而成，而底板就來自紅酒木箱嘅木，所以每一份嘅紋理同音調都係獨一無異的。
The electric bell was first invented by British physicists in the mid 1800s following the invention of electromagnets. When current was passed through the wire, it creates an electromagnetic force which made the bell arm swing sideway and hit the bell, which then broke the current arm fell back. This action repeats, which causes vibration of the arm.
Through this DIY kit, you can build an unique electric bell of your own. The bell is made of inner pot of rice cooker and the wooden board came from wine boxes. All upcycled materials are collected from Hong Kong.
Download: [Electric Door Bell Instruction]
As we are digitalizing our documents in the office, hundreds of thousands of used box files have been brought to the landfill every day. Audiofile is a speaker made of reclaimed box file. They disguise themselves as document holders and rest on the shelves, turning office into a fun place secretly. For people who spend most of their time in front of their office desks, some pleasant music could boost their productivity!
This is a collaboration with a local Bamboo Steamer maker(德昌森記) in Hong Kong, they have been hand crafting quality bamboo products for 5 generation! Together we explore to possiblities of using the tradition technique to put into making consumer products. Demonstrating Bamboo as a material with great potential, all practical, functional and designed with generations of wisdom and experience. A set of speaker and table lamp has been made, wishing to give a refreshing look to this fading iconic craftsmanship of our city!
Date: August 2014
Venue: 德昌森記 Hong Kong, Western street, no.12
This is a collaborative project with F2D in Singapore, this huge plastic water tank was found in the construction site which has an ideal height of a bar table. We installed a table top on it and integrated all the features of Boombottle into the tank. With the oversized automobile speakers powerful enough to rock the whole room, it will surely be a piece of glow-in-the-dark furniture that can host a party.
Date: Apr 2013
Exhibited in:
- "Giving New Life to Abandoned Objects Exhibition" Singapore
一直做upcycling並係唸住一個人可以執走晒啲堆填區，而係希望可以做倒啲例子鼓勵唔同嘅機構，一齊去唸點重新再用自己製造嘅餘料。
就係咁，(2018)三月有間法國公司嘅同事嚟到藍屋，介紹原來佢地有一團隊專係用法國廠房嘅剩料再造產品，叫Petit h。佢地想將Petit h 嘅產品帶嚟香港，
想搵個香港設計師一齊唸吓點樣可以裝修佢地中環嘅旗艦店。
但其實對於裝修我是唔識的，但深信每個社區掉出嚟嘅物料都有一個獨特嘅故事，所以去到佢地Petit h 工作室，第一眼就見到一堆堆被剪咗頭尾defect位嘅絲巾碎料，啲絲巾全人手絲印出嚟手工精細，每張上面都印住一個個畫家畫嘅故事。
所以拎到佢地嚟後，就將一堆堆巢掹掹嘅絲巾分返色tone，用竹圈好似crop相咁一小塊一小塊咁mount返直，再砌成一塊塊葉嘅形態呈現出嚟。全場掛滿超過5000個絲巾圈，分咗九個色區，鋪天蓋地~每個都係血汗心機 。搭開電車經過中環可以嚟睇睇丫！
特別鳴謝 香港office 同事 & Plug Team!
As the same goal of every project, trying to showcase how unused material can turn into something amazing and this project has to be one of the most amazing journey so far.
A privilege to have the Petit h team came to the studio in March(2018), passionated team from Paris upcycling unused materials from their factory creating collection of creative products, plans to bring their products to Hong Kong and looking for a local designer to collaborate on their store design.
With upcycling materials, they always tell a unique story of their origin. During the visit in the Petit h workshop in Paris, it wasn’t too hard to notice there were bags and bags of off cut silk fabric from the production, pieces of silk were all fine printed in its highest quality. Each pattern were hand drawn by artist with a unique story.
The off cuts were brought back to Hong Kong, categorised into different colours and patterns, then mounted on to bamboo circle and form into the shape of leave.
Each piece of leave has a different story to tell, whole scenography consist of more than 5000 silk circle, 9 different colours zoning. First time for Petit h to use such amount of upcycled material in their scenography.
From 18 November - 9 December 2018
Hermès, Ground Floor, Landmark Prince’s, 10 Chater Road, Central
Bottleship is constructed with 360pcs PET Bottles, can carry 2 peoples. It is a commissioned project with RTHK for the TV show 'DIY2K'.
Date: Sept 2012
This is a commission project to build a sculpture with waste material for Citibank Plaza. Box files are a common offices object and constant waste, they are sturdy and come in different colors. The idea is to turning them into something totally unexpected would give their employees a pleasant surprise. Outcome is a 8ft tall nutcracker standing in the lobby of the Citibank building greeting everyone through out the Christmas.
The next sculpture is a work in process set to debut sometime in April 2015, stay tuned!
Date: Dec 2013
Exhibited in:
- Citibank Plaza Lobby, Central, HK
傘骨姆指琴是一個由廢棄傘骨所製的樂器裝置，原理參考古代樂器姆指琴(Kalimba)透過撥動鐵支而發聲。它有八組琴，用兩隻大姆指彈奏，可多達八人一同合奏。 概念原自今日香港的雨傘從來都是很多故事的載體，記載著時代的變遷。所以此裝置將在街頭上被破壞掉棄的現代傘骨改裝成樂器，令它能繼續編寫更多新的故事和樂章, 為香港發聲。 裝置2016年於 文化葫蘆「港文化·港創意-山水相逢」 沙田公園展出。
Umbrella Piano is a instrument made out of wasted umbrella structure, it is a simplified version of an ancient instrument Kalimba. Containing 8 sets of notes, easily play with both your thumbs and up to 8 people together. Inspired by today's umbrella of Hong Kong, more than a daily object, they have always been carrying stories about the place and time. With this installation, the structure of the broken umbrella collected from the street has been repurposed to create music, with the intention to carry on the spirit and continue to create more stories by making music. Installation was exhibited in Heritage x Arts x Design Walk Project [Main Plaza, Shatin Park from 30Apr - 5Jun/2016]
其實每日我地丟緊去堆填嗰六百噸嘅木廢料入面包括有好多好多嘅卡板, 如果多啲人識拆卡板自己砌傢俬, 就唔駛吓吓都去ikea 啦! 今次好榮幸經文化胡蘆介紹, 認識到其中一條受東北發展影響嘅農村, 牛潭尾村. 一條住咗千幾人嘅村, 入面有好多都係公公婆婆. 出入都要行十至十五分鍾去村口搭小巴. 沿路公共設施唔太多. 所以暑假期間就帶同一班熱血嘅 Thei & HKDI 同學由入村site visit開始, 一步步為牛潭尾村做咗一批公共傢俬!
p.s 無錯, 牛潭尾村係一條"農村"! 西區村民話直至幾年前高鐵地盤抽走晒條村嘅井水(地下水), 農田就開始種唔倒嘢, 養魚場, 雞場, 果園亦都相繼結業了. 而因為港鐵工程, 有村民間屋出現沉降裂紋, 港鐵話唔關佢地事. 有地產商強行收地變左垃圾廢車場, 收唔倒就搵黑社會半夜入村騷擾佢地. 報警警察以私人業權爭拗為由不受理...聽到心都實晒...
We are throwing more than 600 tons of wood to our landfill everyday here in Hong Kong, there must be a better way to use these material!
Introduced by Hulu Culture, me and a group of passionate Thei and HKDI design students got to visit a lesser known farm village Ngai Tam Mei located in the northern part of Yuen Long. Affected by recent underground rail road development, most of the wells in the village have been dried out, villagers have been struggling, fish farms, pig farms, chicken farms were forced to close down and emptied out. Leaving behind mostly elderly are still living in the village where public furnitures is lacked.
We decided to make a set of furnitures with pallet woods for the village hoping to ease the life there a little. From a bigger one like the brench for a pavilion at the middle of the village used to be a gather area for the villager, to smaller one like a ramp for wheelchairs.
Bottle chimes an installation made of wasted PET bottles.They are pressurised with air to create a glass like sound when bumping into each other, it also gives illuminating effect through it's sand blasted surface.
This is a reminder when we can put a little tweak and imagination into something useless, we might turn it into something amazingly beautiful.
Exhibited in:
- Salone del Mobile 2014. Milan - Constant Change, Triennal di Milano
- BODW 2011, Detour - PMQ
膠袋佔每日塑膠垃圾其中一大比例, 當中部份更會被沖出海洋, 俾海洋生物當成食物食咗, 污染食物鏈最終無可避免會由我地自己食番。
是次項目係同 Greenpeace綠色和平 嘅合作，希望透過一件令人深刻易見, 能置身其中的裝置, 令人覺醒雖要減少製造一次性膠垃圾。
"多膠魚"由三百幾個一次即棄洗衣店膠袋縫製而成, 由高壓風扇吹起, 內裡空間約二百多呎進行體驗活動。 2016年10月7-8日於文化中心海傍展出。
Plastic bag is one big portion in our daily plastic wastage, other than the landfill, some of them will end up floating in the sea, easily mistaken by sea creatures as food. Contaminants in the food chain will inevitably ends up back into our body.
In this project working with Greenpeace, we hope to address and raise awareness of the issue by creating an eye-catching, immersive installation. Public are invited be "eaten" by our Plastic bag fish, which is constructed with more than 300 disposable plastic laundry bags then inflated by a high pressure fan. Walking around the constant moving fish body is one unforgettable experience, the installation was exhibited in Hong Kong Cultural Centre Harbour front, 7-8 Oct 2016.
[洗衣機音樂盒]
其實自從上年出咗飯鈴後，發現每個壓出來音調都唔同，一直都想砌一排，彈首音樂!
今次就利用咗洗衣機滾桶轉動嘅原理, 係滾桶上唔同嘅位置裝咗啲"牙仔”，轉動一週就會敲出一首音樂，轉動嘅速度就控制拍子快慢 。
放咗係銅鑼灣百德新街人來一往中，
每每叮叮聲響起，大家都會放低手機過嚟裝吓攪吓驚喜了一吓，係設計又好藝術品又得，總之能夠引起大家嘅好奇心就是成功了!
LG musicbox machine
This a collaboration with LG, turning one of their wasted washing machine into a hand cranked music box. By reusing the rotational drum in the washing machine, teeth are added on the surface of the drum. As it rotates, melody will be played though a set of 7 rice bells on the side, each rice bell plays different note.
click to see more about rice bell.
邊個話聖誕裝飾一定係唔還保架呢？ 藍屋位置鄰近灣仔街市，生果店眾多，每日都會有大量生果網被棄置。 係我地每星期嘅藍屋街坊分類回收日經常都會收倒，生果網屬發泡膠類，本港未有完善嘅回收渠道處理，但物料本身輕，亦透光，所以我地就四出收集街區超過3000個嘅生果網，串起嚟做我地今年嘅嘅聖誕燈喇! 聯同藍屋周邊嘅街坊一齊玩，織咗總長240 米嘅燈，橫跨三條街吊過去對面街街坊嘅窗口! 最想帶出，其實回收都可以好靚好好玩架， 每日亮燈， 6-11pm!
之後所有生果網將送往 迷失的寶藏: 發泡膠回收活動 妥善回收。
特別鳴謝：藍屋同事及鄰居，對面街鄰居簡太歐太Ginny一家借出窗口，同埋各區不是垃圾站幫手收網！
