Turning chewing gum into colored skateboard wheels
Hugo Maupetit and Vivian Fischer, 3rd year students - International Class - have created an innovative concept of wheels made from transformed chewing gum and imagined a collaboration between Mentos and Vans.
With this project, they propose to collect chewing gum waste in city centers and skate parks and to recycle it in a fun and responsible way.
Back on this initiative thought to clean the streets in a sustainable way with Hugo Maupetit.
Why did you choose to study design?
"Before discovering the world of design, I had only one sentence in mind when I was asked what I wanted to do later: "improve people’s lives". So I decided to join a training program to be able to start learning about 3D software and technical problems. It was only during my final year that I discovered the world of design, thanks to an interview with Philippe Starck on a french TV show. It was a revelation and I immediately applied to L’École de design Nantes Atlantique to do the skills upgrade classes for applied arts (MANAA), followed by a BTS in product design and then a third year in the International Class with a Brand design option."
How did you come up with the idea for the "From the street to the street" project?
"For this project, the brief was to recycle a mass waste to enhance it by creating a partnership with a brand. After reviewing a whole bunch of waste, such as parachute canvases or car seats, the idea of choosing chewing gum came to us when we saw the hundreds of little white spots scattered on the cobblestones of the streets of Nantes. Working on the recovery of chewing gum made sense: it is a global waste that affects every city in the world and costs municipalities thousands of euros each year to maintain urban spaces.
Once the material was chosen, we established 3 concepts. We kept the skateboard wheels concept, which was in line with the Mentos and Vans universe. The concept became logical and worked perfectly. The project was launched, all that remained was to make it tangible by creating a plate to collect the chewing gum and a system to transform the material to become an alternative to the materials used for skate wheels."
News
