What do you do with old beer crates? Recycle them, of course.
German architecture students of the University of Applied Sciences in Detmold designed and constructed BOXEL, a pavilion made out of 2,000 beer crates that had been in use for over 10 years and had been donated by a local brewery for the project.
Built in just one week, the project was completed earlier this summer and was part of a course on how to develop structures from computer modeling to construction.This full scale pavilion has stood on campus throughout the summer and has been an awesome musical performance and end-of-semester party venue.
When the beer-crate pavilion comes down, the crates will be recycled. A second pavilion design that’s based on movable wooden frames will likely be built next summer (2011).
Isn’t it fascinating what creative minds can come up with?
Guest blog by Debra Atlas, an environmental journalist who focuses eco-innovations. Debra can be reached at debraatlas@gmail.com.
