When you live on a small island in a city with millions of people, waste and what you do with it becomes very important. Running out of space to dump their trash, companies in Taipei are using their own industrial waste to produce new buildings, exhibition spaces, and even airplane wings! Leading the way in trash design is Arthur Huang, founder of Miniwiz and a member of the international advisory committee for World Design Capital® Taipei 2016.
A young, creative and highly sought after Taiwanese designer who has long preached the concept of sustainability, Huang is on a mission to put green materials into peoples’ hands: “We want to change the linear economy to a circular one, so that all the energy we put into a new product can be reused again.”
Miniwiz employs over 40 people from diverse disciplines, including structural engineers, architects, chemical engineers, and manufacturing specialists who use design thinking to address a problem set and create unique solutions.
Together they have built bus shelters, buildings and a nine-storey museum, called the EcoArk, out of recycled waste. Miniwiz has also worked with clients such as Nike and local brewer, Le Blé d’Or, to turn their manufacturing waste into the chairs, walls, and ceilings found in their office spaces.
Using an innovative recycling technology that combines polymers with Nano-Silica and other non-toxic reinforcements, the Miniwiz team turns trash, including electronic waste, into products like cellphone cases, wine bottle holders, and fire-resistant construction materials. Their building modules are engineered with interlocking functions for easy assembly and to avoid chemical bonding agents.
To discover more about Miniwiz and other trailblazers of Taipei’s design community, visit the WDC Taipei 2016 website.
