TAIWAN: Designers from around the world showcase eco-friendly everyday gadgets and industrial materials in Taipei's World Design Expo

Record ID: 231046

  • Title: TAIWAN: Designers from around the world showcase eco-friendly everyday gadgets and industrial materials in Taipei's World Design Expo
  • Date: 25th October 2011
  • Summary: TAIPEI, TAIWAN (OCTOBER 22, 2011) (REUTERS) TAIPEI PAVILION BUILT WITH RECYCLED PLASTIC BOTTLES PEOPLE TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS OUTSIDE TAIPEI PAVILION THE SIGN OF TAIPEI PAVILION WORDS ON THE WALL READING: 100% MADE FROM TRASH EXHIBIT SPACE OF TAIPEI PAVILION WALL BUILT WITH WASTE WINE BOTTLES WINE BOTTLES STACKED UP WINE BOTTLES IN HOLDERS
  • Embargoed: 9th November 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Taiwan, Province of China
  • Country: Taiwan
  • Topics: Science
  • Reuters ID: LVA2BFP5AF06S4E2DOHCNNE6VBFK
  • Story Text: Thousands flocked to Taiwan's largest international design exhibition on Saturday (October 22), which featured green and innovative design ideas.
    The event attracted participants from 34 countries, more than 1,200 designers, and more than 6,000 designer products ranging from clothes and vehicles to everyday articles.
    The Taipei pavilion featured a structure built with 100 percent recycled material, including a wall made with stacked up wine bottles wrapped in plastic holders.
    Founder and managing director of Miniwiz Sustainable Energy Development Ltd., Arthur Huang, said exhibitions are often the place where most new materials are wasted, and the wall of wine bottles was built to remind visitors of the potential of recycling.
    "Even after you finish your wine -- you can starting from the beginning of the wine, starting from the beginning of the consumption about reducing waste -- all the way to the end about recycling waste, so the whole cycle completes itself. So even at the end when you finish your bottle, you can turn the bottle into a wall, into a structure, because it's structural, you can also turn that into a light fixture, or you can simply recycle that into a efficient recycling infrastructure, and hopefully through that efficient recycling, you can turn that into another product," he said.
    The exhibition included award-winning industrial designs such as an automated cardiopulmonary resuscitator, a backpack that can be turned into a scooter, and a filter device that can be installed on top of the umbrella to purify rain water.
    Young visitors, like 20-year-old design student Huang Yi-hsuan, said it is important for Taiwanese designers to have their stage.
    "Taiwanese people's imagination is nowhere less than that of foreigners, it is important to have a space to show our talent," she said.
    Thirty-year-old Peter Lin said he welcomes Taiwan's transformation from manufacturing to designing.
    "Taiwan has gradually transformed from manufacturing into designing, it is just like what they said in the speeches, this is where young people want to enter, and this is also the field where we can gain international recognition. We cannot do OEM forever, but with design, the potential is unlimited," he said.
    At the opening ceremony on Saturday, Taipei city mayor Hau Lung-pin also announced the city's bid for the World Design Capital designation in 2016, since the city hosts 60 percent of the design industry, and regular art events.
    The Taipei World Design Expo is scheduled to close on Sunday (October 30). Other design projects include a French-designed helicopter that can be controlled by iPhone, 600 handkerchieves designed for Japan's earthquake relief, and BMW's 17th art car.
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