24, 25 October 2015
Challenge: Share and enrich data of secondhand building materials
Upcycling designers see the value of materials that have had a life. They make amazing designs with waste. Upcycling designers genuinely help close the loop in circular economy. Finding the right used materials can be hard though. What information is known about these used materials? How can materials best be reused? How can upcycling designers expand their market share?
Nicole Segers started WeReMake.com to:
- Offer a platform for upcyclers to sell their products;
- Offer a platform for suppliers to sell used materials;
- Exchange tips & tricks and instructions for making designs while reusing materials;
- And find the right designs and materials close to home.
WeReMake wants to develop an app so people can easily upload enriched information about their used materials to a database.
As a challenge, WeReMake would like to add the functionality of 3D scanning an object and sharing its geometry and metadata online, so it can be used in design software. This would enhance the opportunity for designers to work not only with new materials (lots of information is included in BIM/ifc) but also with currently available used materials. Moreover, with extra information (geometry and metadata) it should be more easy to see if used materials fit the design (in geometry, strength, color, insulation value, functionality, and etc.), and immediately buy or reserve them.
Slideshare about WeReMake and Nicole's other projects
Wikipedia definition of upcycling
Oogstkaart - an initiative of Superuse studio, putting resources on a map