As a child I was sure that by this point we’d be flying around in personal aircrafts like the Jetsons. The 21st century was supposed to be more like Star Wars than Little House on the Prairie, and in some ways it is, but on a day to day basis, my feet are still on the ground more often than not. Architecture instructor Steven Ma is helping to push us into the futuristic future with the development of the Ec-O Bench.

The Ec-O Bench is a mini-personal eco-system seating device that collects and filters rainwater and harnesses sunlight while also providing a place to rest. Rainwater is collected to feed plants which wind around the bench’s sci-fi structure, creating a trellis-like effect. Thin-film photovoltaics capture sunlight to make the Ec-O Bench a pleasant place to sit at night.

Aside from being operationally sustainable, the Ec-O Bench design is intended to be constructed of Bio-Luminum and Bio-Glass. We’ve looked at Bio-Luminum tiles before on 3rings as a cool example of recycled salvaged parts from retired airplanes. Bio-Glass, another featured product on 3rings, is an engineered recycled glass that has a great natural glass aesthetic.

Furniture pieces with integrated systems such as lighting, planting, electronics charging and seating are beginning to take on the challenge of sustainability. Just last week we saw the MIT Soft Rocker which uses solar panels in combination with the power of human rocking to produce energy for charging electronics. Our expectations for furniture and design to do more with less impact shows a desire for less products, less waste and more efficiency which is a crucial ticket to sustainability in the future.

About the Designer: Steven Ma teaches architecture at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. He is the assistant professor for the Urban Strategies, Postgraduate program "Excessive". He has worked as a project designer for Xefirotarch in Los Angeles. He is currently working as a design architect for Coop-himmelb(L)au in Vienna, specialize in Digital Visualizations, 3D Management & Productions.

via Inhabitat