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Simple Tech = Common Sense Kitchen Design

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At the other end of the design spectrum from the energy sucking gizmology that now pervades our lives; simple tech is quietly bringing back simplicity and sustainability as a worthwhile goal for industrial design. Here’s a good example; a low tech kitchen appliance that would go well beyond a simple energy star rating for efficiency.

This practical and simple energy efficient dish washer/dish storage unit by design students Schwartz and Steiner at the Bauaus Universität Weimar is a great example of the simple tech that the world needs now.

It is a reduction of a machine to its essentials, orientated to user-needs. This dish washer builds on the movements that we already make…

First:

We need to clear the table of dishes after eating, so; at the table we would just stack the dishes right into these racks, then we carry the racks to the sink…

…then just lower the dishwasher lid to create the (let’s hope it’s water tight) simplest dish washer imaginable – to give the dishes a wash.

(Note the real simple propeller at the top of the lid; this must use very little energy use to run.)

Now remove the lid – take the rack back out of the sink and hang it on the wall. Let the air dry it.

Here’s the wall hook thingie… I like the concrete wall by contrast with this red and white plastic.

Now you can do something useful with your life till the next time you use this.

This is design that respects the users time. There’s no need for a 30 page manual in 12 languages to do 3001 pointless things with a gizmo that you don’t have time to do anyway. It’s simple.

Technology does not have to be a time sink. Or an energy hog.

Reprint by permission at GreenBuildingElements
Via Dezeen