Building With Beer: New Image, Old Idea Boston

Building With Beer: New Image, Old Idea
Boston

When we saw these images of the new Heineken City interior we were reminded of what Alfred Heineken and architect John Habraken tried to do in 1963, which we saw in Amsterdam a few years ago...

The Wobo, as the brick bottle design was called, was designed to be used in Caribbean communities which lacked adequate building materials. A little before their time, the term for a product like this is called upcycling—making the packaging of the beer bottle more useful after it's initial purpose has been fulfilled.

We're not sure we'd want a whole house built from these brick bottles but the beauty of the new Heineken City wall reminds us that the mundane and seemingly useless could be transformed into something not only beautiful but sustainable and responsible, as well.

Maybe college beer can towers were on to something. Are there other products that you use that become more useful after their initial purpose has bee fulfilled?

Comments (5)

My college roommates and I would buy food packaged in glass bottles or jars (spaghetti sauce, POM teas, olive oil, jam/jelly, olives, etc) even if it was a wee bit more expensive because they were so good for holding leftovers- especially when we made chicken/vegetable stock or a big batch of soup.

Also, things that come in wooden boxes like tea, or canvas bags like some coffees are almost more useful in their second uses.

posted by megbar548 on August 13th 2008 at 10:19am
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wow. my husband and i could build a shed in a week or two! where do we get these????

posted by miss sparrow on August 13th 2008 at 4:09pm
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If you are ever in St. Louis, you need to check out the City Museum (www.citymuseum.org) It is a reuse dream, but on the third floor is a curved wall made from recycled bottles that is very similar to this post...

posted by kgoodman80 on August 13th 2008 at 5:19pm
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posted by magdelane on August 13th 2008 at 5:46pm
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I'm still wondering why they don't reuse the bottles over again like they do with glass soda bottles in Latin America. Here, the only bottles that go in the trash are the ones that get broken.

posted by Akino luna on August 14th 2008 at 4:09am
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