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02.
materio

Materio is a modular urban element cast in polyurethane resin and rubber granules from end-of-life tires. It works as a bench and as a bicycle rack, and integrates USB and wireless charging, e-bike charging and LED lighting.

waste stream

It started with an internship at Corgom, studying the whole recycling line and looking for uses for the finer fractions — the ones nobody knows what to do with.

End-of-life tires stacked for recycling — fig.01 tires selected for recycling

Four black and white photographs of the tire shredding process — fig.02 storage, conveying, shredding

form

The design phase followed a Material Driven Design approach, working from what recycled rubber can actually do. The shape came out of a three-day workshop with Arriola&Fiol in Barcelona, analysing urban benches.

Sketches, dimensioned views and a campus map — fig.03 concept development and siting on campus

Annotated axonometric drawing with technical specifications — fig.04 bike rack, tech box, charging ports, locking system

details

dimensions:

w2000 mm

h450 mm

d1800 mm

material:

polyurethane resin
end-of-life tire rubber granulate
brushed steel

integrated:

USB and wireless charging
e-bike charging
LED lighting
bike locking system

making

I built the steel mould by hand, welding and bending sheet metal, then cast the resin and granulate mix into it.

Photographs of rubber granulate, cutting, welding and resin casting — fig.05 granulate, cutting and welding, resin casting

The finished three-lobed element in cast recycled rubber — fig.06 the functional prototype

Bachelor thesis
Supervised by Vincenzo Paolo Bagnato
Polytechnic University of Bari
In collaboration with Corgom S.r.l., Corato
E. Quagliariello University Campus, Bari
2023

📸 picture by me