Florian Henschel receives German Ecodesign Award in the »Young Talent« category for his »MateriaLab« final thesis
»MateriaLab« are experimental kits on the topic of waste and recycling for children, which Florian Henschel, a product design graduate from the Faculty of Art and Design at Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, developed as part of his bachelor's thesis. The set offers young pupils the opportunity to carry out various recycling and waste processes themselves. The aim of the experiments is to give children a playful awareness of the value and characteristics of waste and to introduce them to responsible waste handling.
The »MateriaLab« system consists of four wooden boxes: With the paper and the plastic box, the children can recycle themselves with special tools and create small discs from the recovered recyclables. The bioplastics experiment invites them to produce a starch-based bioplastic themselves and make another disc from it. In the biowaste experiment, the samples are finally tested for their durability with the help of worms in a two-month long-term experiment. The resulting discs serve the children as building blocks or as souvenir medals.
»Well thought-out and brilliantly realised for children. The »MateriaLab« encourages trying things out, experimentation and observation. It opens up the meaning and purpose of resource conservation through actual experience,« praises Werner Aisslinger, juror of German Ecodesign Award, Henschel's approach in the jury statement. »For me, the renewed award is a great confirmation of my work and impetus for further projects in the area of tension between social design, waste, sustainability and education,« Henschel is pleased to say. He had already been honoured with a prize for his thesis as part of the »German Design Graduates«.
Henschel describes the first test of his idea as particularly motivating: »Although my prototypes were still very simple then, the children carried out the experiments with fun and interest.« A real low point for him, he says, was the research on the topic of household waste at the beginning of the project, because »the more you deal with the topic, the more the complexity of the problem becomes apparent and that - even before clean separation - consistent waste avoidance is important.« When asked where Henschel sees his project in five years' time, the product designer explains: »I hope the experimental kits will really be used in schools. Until then, the current prototypes will have to be further developed.«
More information about the project can be found on the website of German Ecodesign Award at: https://bundespreis-ecodesign.de/en/projectoverview/2021-materialab.
MateriaLab_Preisträger 2021_Kategorie Nachwuchs.mp4
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The bachelor thesis »MateriaLab« was supervised by Gerrit Babtist, Professor of Design and Management, and Michael Braun, Academic Associate at the Professorship Theory and History of Design, at the Faculty of Art and Design.
About German Ecodesign Award:
The German Ecodesign Award is the highest state award for ecological design in Germany. The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety since 2012 together with the Internationales Design Zentrum Berlin. In the four categories of product, service, concept and young talent, the competition honours outstanding works that are convincing from an environmental and design perspective.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Romy Weinhold, Press and Public Relations Officer at the Faculty of Art and Design, by phone at +49 / 36 43 / 58 11 86 or by e-mail at romy.weinhold[at]uni-weimar.de.