The first thing to do in this project was to get a better understanding of C2C. This knowledge base was created by visiting a C2C festival; talking to representatives from Vagga till Vagga and EPEA, and by researching on existing C2C Products.
The main principle of C2C is: "Waste equals food". this is achieved by separating materials in technological and biological cycles and by only using technological materials that can be 100% up-cycled.
On of the most important issues when creating a recyclable product, is to ensure that the materials are recovered after products lifetime is over. For Gaia this was done by creating a business model, where EFG would provide Gaia as a service to the costumer and by doing so always have full control over the different materials. After the use time, Gaia could then be taken back, disassembled, and the parts could be up-cycled or reused.
The target group for Gaia was set to be creative professionals. To get an understanding of their ideal work place, two focus groups were conducted. Resulting in insights about how many of the participants envisioned a work space, where they would move around the office depending on what tasks they were performing, rather than spending all day at a desk.
The ideation process resulted in these three concepts. After dismissing Square One for being too much of a infliction to the room, a combination of Let's Roll and What's App was chosen and that became Gaia.
When the concept was chosen different mock-ups and scale models were created and evaluated until, a satisfactory result was achieved.
Gaia was designed so that it could be delivered on a standard pallet. The parts could then be easily assembled on site.
The idea to create the wheel as a framework for different applications, creates infinite possibilities for customization of Gaia.
The modularity of Gaia also enables stacking of multiple wheels, to create bigger rooms for meetings etc.
In 2012 EFG built three prototypes of Gaia. These were then exhibited at Stockholm Furniture and Light Fair, Clerkenwell Design Week in London and Orgatec in Cologne. Gaia was also feature on Core 77, Design Milk and various other design blogs.
gLike
EFG GAIA
This project was done for the European Furniture Group and in collaboration with the Swedish Cradle to Cradle organization Vagga till Vagga. The mission of the project was to create a personal workspace that was: Innovative, Modular and Space saving, and to do this all in accordance with the principles of Cradle to Cradle.
The members of the team were: David Bruér, Vanessa Bui, Johan Netzler, Filip Sundblad and me.
