DESIGN NAME: PowerPlace
PRIMARY FUNCTION: Charging Station
INSPIRATION: The inspiration for the project came from everyday observations at various places like; airports, libraries, cafes, but also private homes. It became obvious that our technology and its integration into everyday life has developed way faster than the design of our environment.
Based on these observations, the interaction between user - device - loading interface was examined.
UNIQUE PROPERTIES / PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The project PowerPlace encounters the daily need for electricity in our living space. Its puristic design language is paired with a technological inside, making it a hybrid that represents a new category of furniture. The object combines extension cable, portable battery, storage space and a variety of charging interfaces in one organized object. The fields of use range from private homes, cafes, co-working spaces and offices to hotels and bars.
OPERATION / FLOW / INTERACTION: POWERPLACE offers a puristic and back standing piece of furniture that appears like a small, ordinary side table. In fact, the object is highly technical and combines an extension cord, a power bank, control panels and a variety of plugs and cables in one organized object.
PROJECT DURATION AND LOCATION: The project has been created during my Master Thesis at the Berlin University of the Arts during October 2018 to October 2019 and was exhibited at the IMM Cologne in January 2020.
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PRODUCTION / REALIZATION TECHNOLOGY: The body and all supportive parts are made from aluminum. All plastic parts are made out of the same polymer and have the same color treatment. When disassembled one is left with a block of aluminum, a collection of plastic components, the lithium battery, cables and various circuit boards.
SPECIFICATIONS / TECHNICAL PROPERTIES: product dimensions, Width 260 mm x Depth 200 mm x Height 740 mm
TAGS: PowerPlace, Power, Charging, Design, Industrial Design, Interior, Office Supplies, USB, USB-C, 230V, extension, Customizable, Philipp Hainke
RESEARCH ABSTRACT: The project POWERPLACE investigates neglected areas of need in the present living environment in order to find innovative solutions for them. In field researches user have been observed to explore their interacting with objects and surroundings. It's striking that nowadays many activities are build around or involve the use of smartphones or other digital devices. In our daily life we depend on these multimedia devices and therefor on electricity. All mobile devices have in common that sooner or later they have to be charged. One consequence of this is a chaos of cables, plugs, chargers in private rooms, offices, and semi-public spaces.
CHALLENGE: One focus of the construction was to reduce the amount of different materials for the final product.
ADDED DATE: 2021-02-09 12:02:02
TEAM MEMBERS (1) :
IMAGE CREDITS: Philipp Hainke
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