Name
Chris Kirby

Occupation
Product, lighting and furniture designer

Vitals
Born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, age 37
Based in Tokyo
Education
Bachelor of design, Emily Carr University of Art + Design, Vancouver (2006)
Master’s in engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver (1997)
Bachelor of applied science, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario (1995)

Employment during school
Form3 Design, product designer and researcher
JDi Design, design intern
Ballard Power Systems, fuel cell engineer

Awards
Macef Design Award highly commended entry (2007)
Core77 Light Objects notable entry (2006)

Selected exhibitions and installations
Designtide Tokyo, Tokyo Midtown Hall (2007, 2008)
Prototype Exhibition02, 5tanda Sonic, Tokyo (2008);
and Prototype, Keiji Ashizawa studio, Tokyo (2007)
Ceramic Works Exhibit, Bunkyo Green Court, Tokyo (2007, 2008)
Negative Series, Café Pause, Tokyo (2008)
Handled with Care, Designers Block, London (2007)

 

Big break

For my graduation project, I wanted to somehow ritualize composting, to design a better and more dignified way than simply using ice cream buckets or plastic bags. Before coming up with solutions, I researched the process: I consulted with experts, got my own worm composter, carried out user surveys, and studied consumer options for composting in my area. I found that while people are interested in recycling their food waste to help the environment, any solution – product or system – had to be convenient and not impose too much on the user. Bugs, rodents, odour and the yuck factor were all concerns.

I considered designing entire municipal systems, like special streetside food waste bins; or new plastic collection bins that aid with education; or even a cookbook based on generating less waste. But I realized my part in this should be about how the user interfaces with the system. I had absolutely no idea that I’d end up with a porcelain dinner table object.

The Compost Vase developed into a flat design language, faceted and functional. I wanted it to act like a catcher’s mitt, with a wide opening for tossing stuff into it, but I also wanted it to lie flat on the counter so it could cozy up to the cutting board. It needed to take up very little space, so it sits upright like a vase. I was taking courses in porcelain at the time, and I liked the idea of tying it into dinnerware. I wanted it to be in its own class of dinnerware object, with its own associated activity, like a creamer, teapot or gravy boat. That was my challenge to myself, to make it something special, to bring composting to the dinner table.

Terri Peters
Read the full story in the print edition of our March/April 2009 issue