Getting Personal | Manufacturing FLOCEAN by Kristina Zanic Consultants
Charbel Chebly, Operations Manager – Hospitality Manufacturing, led the team that manufactured the prototype of FLOCEAN, a product design by Kristina Zanic Design Consultants that has been submitted for this year’s Surge for Water Sustainability Design Awards.
Once a year, on the occasion of the annual DESIGN, DINE, and MAKE A DIFFERENCE Gala, Surge for Water tasks the regional A&D (Architects and Designers) community to come up with unique creations that provoke thoughts and reflections around a particular theme. This year, they chose GAIA – Mother Nature or Mother Earth – symbolising mankind’s coevolution with our environment: “Designers are challenged to capture our changing planet and humanity’s role in this change by considering all four dimensions of sustainability – the social, ecological, economic and worldview.”
Marco Maximus and Amr Abdelaziz of Kristina Zanic Design Consultants responded by creating FLOCEAN, a distinctive sun lounger concept that reminds humanity of the circumstances that affect our planet as a result of irresponsible disposal of medical equipment.
We’ve spoken to our colleague Charbel Chebly of our Hospitality Manufacturing section who collaborated with the designers to make their vision a reality by creating the FLOCEAN prototype about the challenging and thought-provoking project.
What did you think about Havelock One’s involvement in the FLOCEAN project by Kristina Zanic Design Consultants and why do you think we should promote the idea of “sustainability”?
As the saying goes “We don’t inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children” – we are all completely dependent on nature for our survival and prosperity. Living in these times, human impact on the environment is changing the face of our planet. Sustainability is not just a concept but a way of life that each human should follow to create balance in nature and preserve natural resources for our future generations.
For the manufacturing industry that we are associated with, it is altogether more important to think about sustainability in terms of optimising material usage, reducing wastage, design concepts and recycling/reusing materials.
Why do you think the design concept meets the competition criteria of Surge’s Design Challenge?
Firstly, FLOCEAN captures the recent COVID-19 pandemic and fight for survival in its design concept. Secondly, in terms of ecology – this pandemic has not only affected human lives but also the environment by dumping medical waste/masks etc. in fields and water bodies, which is also clearly depicted in the design.
What do you like about FLOCEAN?
It is a unique design, which when kept at a leisure/relaxing place, will still remind people of the pandemic, its effects and their responsibility towards nature and the environment.
Why and how did you and your team make FLOCEAN a reality?
We were happy to be a part of this unique design challenge and at the chance of being a part of something which will help create awareness among people. To achieve the designers’ vision, we indeed had to make trials/samples with different materials and also be aware of it being an actual usage at beaches.
What were the technical challenges of creating a prototype of FLOCEAN?
We faced technical challenges in terms of creating the actual shape as per the designers’ vision along with showcasing the concept with facemasks. Using the right material to achieve less weight while making the product robust was also a challenge. We also took utmost care of the material usage and wastage in this product, as it should be all about sustainability.
Do you think FLOCEAN could become a ‘proper’ product available for purchase?
FLOCEAN could surely be a mass product for purchase, where at beaches it would provide comfortable leisure time while reminding people to be mindful of throwing waste and polluting water bodies.
Is there anything else you would like to say?
I would like to add that our team is very happy to create something unique and at the same time being a part of the greater good to create awareness about our planet. We would be more than happy to work on such designs in the future, with incredible designers and be a part of the change!
Also, I wanted to express my appreciation for the hard work and dedication of my colleagues Ronalissa Pamaran, Material Engineer, and Joppan George, Assistant Manager Setting-out, as their support was essential for creating the FLOCEAN prototype.
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Vote for FLOCEAN by at the People’s Choice Award of Surge.