Upcycle Project: Contemporary Environmental

Background

About 4 years ago, I assembled a floor made out of Trex® Wood for my Patio. The reason was because the concrete floor was very hard to clean with all the dust that accumulated there over time and it was not aesthetically pleasing. Since installing the new decking, the Patio is much nicer to walk on, clean, and look at. I have some leftover Trex® wood that was not used on this project and therefore I will be implementing Trex® wood into my Design. Trex® wood is a composite decking material made out of 95% recycled materials such as plastic film and reclaimed sawdust. It offers better durability than regular wood and it doesn’t splinter, rot, or warp like regular wood does.

Patio with Trex Composite Wood.

Introduction

For my Upcycle Project, I will design a wine bottle holder that can fit in between the countertop and cabinets that sit above the corner of my kitchen. This has always been an unused space and it would introduce a contemporary environmental aesthetic into the room. Growing up, I often traveled to Germany and throughout Europe to visit family. A lot of them enjoy cooking and spend a lot of time in the kitchen so they had modern seasoning holders and wine bottle holders that would sit on the countertop in the kitchen. Having one in my kitchen would remind me of family and other memories made while visiting Europe. I often implement wine when I cook, especially when it comes to making sauces and stews such as goulash (a Hungarian beef stew recipe). Because of this, it will be used often while at the same time introducing a contemporary environmental aesthetic to the room.

The location where the wine bottle holder will stand.

Aesthetic

Since I will be upcycling unused Trex® Wood from the decking project to make a wine bottle holder, the aesthetic of the composite wood is not the main component of the aesthetic however it does add to the environmental aspect of the design. The contemporary design of the holder will implement and emphasize straight lines and clean angles. Utilizing the natural light that the space gets throughout the day will emphasize these clean lines and angles. The holder is designed in a way that it will introduce warmth and comfort into the space. This is what gives the design a more contemporary aesthetic than its modern counterpart. As seen in the designs below, depending on how many wine bottles you want to put on the holder can make the design balanced or unbalanced. Both of these concepts can be implemented with the final product depending on if you want the design to have more or less tension. Unbalanced designs will create tension in the viewer which makes them uneasy.

Design 1

Design one is my favorite design as it utilizes clean lines and angles to introduce a contemporary style into the room. From an engineering standpoint, this design is very achievable. The critical point is where the two pieces of wood connect and if the design is not stable enough because the legs slide apart too easily, I will add a stainless steel wire between the Trex® or high friction pads underneath the base.

Design 2

Design two is another idea I had however this is more difficult to make given the forces that the corners need to withstand. It would also be a taller design that holds fewer bottles than the first design one. The taller size of design two makes it a nonideal candidate for the location I am planning on putting it in.

References

Trex® Website:

https://www.trex.com/products/decking/enhance/?utm_id=go_cmp-1719182107_adg-125681441411_ad-651779979586_kwd-1004122181_dev-c_ext-_prd-_mca-_sig-CjwKCAiA_OetBhAtEiwAPTeQZ43l6YzoAhbcjqS-g3LXrNBayJ4xjYX4zLdBRk9fYeEun690ie80MxoCEmYQAvD_BwE&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA_OetBhAtEiwAPTeQZ43l6YzoAhbcjqS-g3LXrNBayJ4xjYX4zLdBRk9fYeEun690ie80MxoCEmYQAvD_BwE