Thursday 2 May 2013

From Salad Spinner To Washing Machine




Although doing laundry has nothing to do with making salad, the GiraDora washing machine uses all the principles of a salad spinner to create a washing machine that makes doing laundry in rural areas less back-breaking and time-consuming.



Problem: Rural areas sometimes have inconsistent energy supply and a lack of clean water. 
Solution:The GiraDora is a $40 foot-powered washer-dryer designed by Alex Cabunoc and Ji A you

Both of them are students at Art Centre College's Design Matters program. In 2011 they spent two weeks in a slum outside of Lima, Peru where they worked closely with a family to identify the needs of rural communities to which they responded by designing a consumer product solution.





Their final prototype includes a seat on which the user can sit while doing laundry,which can relieve the back pain usually associated with washing clothing by hand.

Word was spread around by these young designers to fellow academics and the press which secured a $19 500 sponsor allowing them to continues developing more prototypes and implementing these designs in rural areas. 


Their current prototype is approved by testers in Peru, Lima, Santiago and Chile.

Poverty cannot be solved by a single product but the burden can be lightened. The GiraDora addresses a very real social problem that we might not even give a second thought, but makes the world's difference to families in rural areas that don't have the luxury of a LG or Defy. This is the ideal design to be implemented in rural areas by governments across the globe. It may not work with electricity but it definitely has the potential to empower the poverty stricken world be live in.

2 comments:

  1. Yeah the design is cool but making a consumer product for the people living in extreme poverty is counter productive. If you want to help the poor put the design out there for free and open source the project. Use the prototype pictured above as the final model and give the schematics away for free. Make sure it can be built out of trash. When you're in extreme poverty 40 bucks is a huge cost and shelling out that kind of money for any kind of product is going to have a negative impact on these poor communities.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yeah the design is cool but making a consumer product for the people living in extreme poverty is counter productive. If you want to help the poor put the design out there for free and open source the project. Use the prototype pictured above as the final model and give the schematics away for free. Make sure it can be built out of trash. When you're in extreme poverty 40 bucks is a huge cost and shelling out that kind of money for any kind of product is going to have a negative impact on these poor communities.

    ReplyDelete