UNITED_BOTTLE은 스위스 쮜리히의 건축 사무소인 INSTANT (Dirk Hebel & Jörg Stollmann with Tobias Klauser)에서 제안한 프로젝트로, 2007 Red dot award : 디자인 컨셉 어워드에서 ‘Best of the best’ 상을 수상한 바 있다. 버려진 PET병을 활용하여, 난민촌과 같은 긴급구호지역에 투입고어, 임시 구호소나 무너진 건물의 간이벽으로 사용한다는 컨셉이다. 병에는 요철이 있어, 병끼리 서로 맞물려 쌓을 수 있고, 필요하다면, 흙이나 깃털, 머리카락등의 충전재도 집어 넣을 수 있다.
최근, 인스턴트 아키텍츠는 PET병을 보다 창조적으로 이용할 수 있는 방법에 관한 아이디어를 공모하고 있다. 응모 마감은 2월 15일까지였고, 이미 지나버렸지만... 선별된 우수작품은 2008년 3월 뉴욕 밴 앨런 인스티튜트에서 개최되는 ‘UNITED_BOTTLE PARTICIPATE!’ 전시회에 선보일 예정이라고 함. 상세 내용 설명은 아래 첨부파일 클릭!
Every year there are 800 million PET bottles in circulation in Germany. For the whole of Europe the figure rises to 50 billion. PET bottles can either be returned to be used again or recycled. The range of possibilities extends from the manufacture of new PET containers to that of textiles, for example lining and fleeces. Given the increasing scarcity of resources the “United Bottles” project is proposing an additional recycling loop. The newly developed “United Bottle” is a water bottle, which, through constructive misuse, can end up as a building element. If required, the requisite empty bottles are removed from the recycling cycle and transported by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to the relevant crisis area, where in conjunction with water pump systems they are used for the distribution of drinking water. For local water distribution 9 “United Bottles” create a stable, portable compound unit. The slotting system of the bottles enables them also to be used as construction material. Together with the tarpaulins of the UN tents the “United Bottles” form a stable sub-construction and water supply at the same time. Filled with locally available materials such as sand, stones and earth they become construction material for both temporary and permanent structures. They can be used to erect individual small buildings or to extend or repair existing buildings.During The Design Annual a prototype of such a building will be on view on the outside of the Festhalle. As part of the project the building process will be demonstrated and visitors invited to complete the building in line with their own ideas.