Wouter Kalis and Corinne de Korver are two Dutch designers who have long been aware of the overall importance of sustainable accommodations throughout the world. Based in Amsterdam, the duo are dedicated to socially-conscious designs that incorporate simple and often recyclable elements, such as their most recent piece, “Social Unit.” Devised as a solution for aid organizations in Holland, the cupboard bed space is part sleeping compartment, part storage space that fits the basic sustainability criteria: they are compact, inexpensive, durable and easy to maintain. The Social Units are produced entirely from consumer plastic waste such as bottle caps and beer crates, manufactured using woodworking techniques no more complicated than sawing, drilling or cutting.
The design was a response to the conditions of homeless shelters in Amsterdam. Although shelters offer people a single room in the Netherlands, the rooms often are full of broken, chaotic interiors with not enough storage space for all the personal belongings people carry around. The designers decided to help people find their way back into society, and concluded an interior should also be inviting and with positive signals.
They talked to the staff of Salvation Army and were told furniture should be easy to clean and ‘gorilla proof’, really strong. They found this recycled consumer waste plastic, made of bottle caps and beer crates, and that triggered it. They made a design that was functional, durable and green. It’s a modern version of the historical Dutch ‘cupboard bed’, that was traditionally built into a wall to preserve warmth and have some privacy in large families. And, it has a built in psychological side effect: it makes people feel secure and comfortable by giving them their own private space.
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