Renewable Concrete Colorful Public Seats

Designing Innovative and Eco-Friendly Outdoor Furniture

This innovative design takes advantage of concrete waste by using it as the aggregate for precast concrete, resulting in outdoor facilities with ecological features. Inspired by traditional Chinese architecture, the seats incorporate the tenon-mortise structure, connecting them to the rich cultural heritage. The combinable nature of the seats allows for various combinations, making them suitable for modern architectural displays.

The realization of these seats involves shattering concrete waste and transforming it into aggregate. Colorful dyeing agents are added to the concrete mixture, enhancing the demonstrativeness of the furniture. The seats are then made using molds, ensuring consistent quality and precision.

With dimensions of 1400mm*420mm*450mm, these public seats are designed to be combinable, allowing for flexible arrangements in different environments. The project took four months to complete, and the seats are currently displayed in the art gallery of Southwest Jiaotong University.

The design team, led by Professor Huang Tao, includes designers Zhao Xianan, Luo Xin, and Shi Xiaoming. Their research focused on the increasing demand for concrete in urbanization processes and the environmental burden caused by architectural waste. By expanding the application scope of regenerative concrete through public furniture, they aim to address these challenges.

The design process presented its own set of challenges, particularly in determining the composition proportion of regenerative concrete and controlling the color of the colorful pigment. Through numerous attempts and experimentation, the team overcame these obstacles and achieved the desired results.

This design, created by the Product Design R&D Center of SWJTU, showcases the potential of renewable concrete in creating sustainable and visually appealing outdoor furniture. While no patent application has been filed, the design has received recognition, winning the Iron A' Design Award in the Street and City Furniture Design category in 2016. This award acknowledges the design's practicality, innovation, and adherence to professional and industrial requirements.