We all are accustomed to listen to the word ‘hi-fi’; it is related to so many technological things today but what if you come to listen about a ‘lo-fi’ appliance which present to one with productivity too. The modern technology trends are undoubtedly loved by people but even when things used to be not-so-very technology-rich then, some of the things were loved by people of that time. Lo-fi Cloth Washer by Jiang Qian is just a step forward to know that do the low-technology appliances still allure modern people and society. This project deals with the redesigning of traditional Swedish washing machine that were human powered.
On one of his trips, Jiang Qian who is a student at Lund University in Sweden happened to see a big and old-fashioned washing machine entirely made out of wood. From that moment on he started working on the Lo-fi Cloth Washer. He wanted to actually find out that if low-tech appliances still have some potential for the modern people and society. In one of his drawings he showed that how people removed the dirt from their clothes in old times. Jiang was further inspired by the durability of the Swedish wooden houses and that made him to choose wood and metal as the main material for his project. The chief building material used in Lo-fi Cloth Washer is American Oak. The bucket was built in the barile factory located at Angelholm in South of Sweden. The rest of the parts were prepared in design workshop as well as the wood workshop in Lund University only. Currently, Lo-fi Cloth Washer is on exhibition in Stockholm Furniture Fair 2012.
With the beauty of traditionalist design, the Lo-fi Cloth Washer maybe a design that does not impress the tech savvy people but is surely likely to lighten up some smiles on the faces of eco lovers.
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