How a bench and a factory can change the world
everything
is possible for the lord almighty and a
mechanic
that was a humorous mantra when my
grandfather established a small
mechanical workshop
on the norwegian west coast right after
second world war
it started simply small mechanical
products turned into playground
equipment
park benches and even a fully automatic
fish cake making machine
now more than seven years later we’re
not making fish cake machines anymore
but we have become one of europe’s
leading brands for social furniture
and believe it or not our mission is not
to sell as many products
as possible our mission is to change the
world
one neighborhood at the time you might
wonder what that means so please let me
explain
the world is getting more and more
polarized we see
tendencies towards more conflicts and
less cohesion
more antagonism and less trust and there
are strong forces out there
trying to divide us instead of bringing
us together
it is never a good idea to categorize
people as us
and them we know too well from our own
history what that might lead to
so what we should do is create more
caring meeting places around the world
places where people can sit down
together share life stories
ideas and get to know each other places
where we can build mutual trust and
respect
places where we can celebrate our
beautiful diversity
and foster inclusion we call these
arenas for everyday democracy
and creating and protecting these arenas
is actually one of the most
important tasks in the world today
in scandinavia we have a concept called
al-manson
this is best translated to a public
access right
or the freedom to roam it basically
means that the outdoors
belongs to everyone isn’t that a lovely
concept
the right is not just regulated by law
it’s also an
important part of our cultural dna and
since this is so important
to estrella we refuse to be involved in
any project
with the opposite purpose for instance
hostile designs yes you have seen them
public benches with spikes and other
obstacles
designed to keep homeless people away
from our streets
and out of our public spaces when we are
asked to produce such benches and
believe me we have
we are always saying no simply
because it’s not democratic to have
spikes in the city
if we have created a society where
people can’t afford a proper place to
live
that’s actually something that must be
dealt with by political reforms
not by spikes a better future
is possible we can solve this together
if we are willing to share resources
more fairly than today but i will tell
you this
it’s not my job to produce benches
designed to cover for basic injustices
in our
societies i simply don’t want to make
money on things that are wrong
and hostile designs are never right
so our mission does not stop here
building more inclusive societies is
just one of the major issues we must
deal with today
another huge task we have is to solve
the climate crisis
and prevent further loss of nature and
biodiversity before it’s too late
the industrial revolutions brought
enormous positive changes
technologically economically and
socially but not without a very
high price the repairable damage to
nature
biodiversity and man-made climate change
brought on by our industrial
achievements is itself an increasingly
catastrophic threat
to the very progress we’ve made together
the good news friends is that there is a
way to fix
this problem and here is what we can do
first of all we need to accelerate the
shift towards renewable energy
renewable energy is now in many cases
cheaper than coal and other fossil fuels
this is great news since we want to
reduce the carbon emissions fast
and at the same time create millions of
new jobs
in the renewable sector and a positive
effect is that we get cleaner air in the
cities
as well second the throwaway society
must
end now we need to make products with a
long lifespan things that can be
repaired and restored
products designed for a circular economy
where waste in the traditional sense
doesn’t exist anymore
because almost everything can be
recycled and reused
truthfully it’s not that difficult
believe me
if you travel around norway even close
to the harsh and salty north sea
you will find western furniture from the
50s and the 60s still out there
being enjoyed every day so
let’s start by banning products designed
to have
a short lifespan and third
the push for new products all the time
must end
do we actually need new furniture every
five years
i don’t think so it should last for 30
years at least
and if you get tired of the design well
you should be able to send it back to
the factory
have it refurbished maybe get a new
color so it continues the journey
with you or with someone else
if we can share things change things
rebuild things
and maybe even rent things instead of
buying new things
all the time we will reduce our
consumption and our environmental
impact significantly
at westrep we still believe that
everything
is possible that is why we want to take
sustainability to the next level right
now
we are building the most environmentally
friendly furniture factory
in the world we call it the plus
the plus is located in a magnor a small
village one and a half hours from oslo
in norway
and it is designed by bjarky ingles and
his team of excellent designers from all
over the world
at big architects together we have
created an
entirely new typology where people
production technology
and nature are completely integrated
with each other
the plus is the first ever furniture
factory that meets the highest brim
outstanding environmental certification
and as far as i know we are the first
ever
paris proof furniture factory meaning we
will not only meet the climate targets
in the paris agreement
we’re actually over fulfilling the
agreement by reducing our emissions
by more than 50 percent compared to a
similar
new factory building the plus runs on
100 renewable energy and has a very
advanced
energy system with solar panels heat
exchangers
and geothermal energy wells that will
reduce
our supplied energy need by more than 90
percent
compared to similar new factory building
the factory itself is made from locally
sourced sustainable glue lamb and cross
laminated timber love carbon concrete
and recycled reinforcement steel
the construction site is fossil free and
emission free
as we will utilize electric excavators
and machines
running on latest generation biofuel
the plus will also reuse up to 95
percent of the processed water
and replace traditional chemicals with
new eco-friendly
alternatives originally the municipality
was planning for a massive industrial
development for the site
instead along came the plus
a building whose key objective is to
make its footprint as small
as possible the building has been
positioned at the edge of what is today
a productive pine forest
and the remaining area around 95 of the
site
is now being preserved on nature’s own
premises
biodiversity will be enhanced by
allowing the forest surrounding the
woodland to grow wild
without any forest management which
remove animals
hiding places and sources of food many
nesting boxes will
also be put up to ensure that cavity
nesting birds have a place
to lay their eggs and to further improve
the biodiversity we will cover the
factory’s
roof with natural vegetation which
corresponds as
closely as possible to that which is
currently growing around us
the factory will have its own production
flow for refurbishment of old furniture
all products leaving the plus will be
circular
some for the first time others have been
manufactured many years ago
and are now refurbished we will not
manufacture
anything that isn’t intended to last
forever
and this concept which we call west
revision zero
could reduce our use of resources by
more than eighty
percent the plus isn’t only the most
environmentally friendly furniture
factory
in the world it’s probably the most
democratic
and transparent factory in the world as
well
here are no fences or closed off areas
the plus is actually a tribute to allah
the freedom to roam everyone is invited
to watch the manufacturing
through the factory’s large windows
whenever they want
the public can even bring their tent and
access our rooftop
24 7. i mean can you
imagine anything more romantic than
sharing a kiss
with a special someone standing atop the
most environmentally friendly furniture
factory in the world
surrounded by spectacular architecture
and a magical forest
i count my goal is actually for the plus
to be named as a must-see destination
on tripadvisor and i’m pretty sure we
will get there with a combination of
groundbreaking design
and super cool industry 4.0 technology
such as self-teaching robots autonomous
forklifts
and tesla electric semi trucks the
beautiful forest surrounding the factory
and a 75 acre experience park with
art installations poetry playgrounds and
other excitement for the whole family to
enjoy
will sure be a marvel to see
some people ask me why are you doing the
biggest investment in the norwegian
furniture
industry for decades in the middle of a
pandemic and the worst recession
since the 30s my response is
that there’s no time better than now and
this
can simply not wait we want to show the
world
that it is possible to solve the climate
crisis
protect and restore nature and
biodiversity
and at the same time create new
enjoyable and profitable jobs
if westridge can so can others there is
too much
talk about the green shift today i want
to see more and real
action and i want to contribute to a
less polarized debate about these issues
by bridging the gap between climate
activists and people
concerned about our economy
friends it all comes down to this
what responsibility do private companies
have
is it enough to be profitable create
jobs and pay taxes
no it’s a good start but people should
actually expect more from us
we should be the front runners in the
green shift
we should stop earning money on things
that are bad for people
or bad for the planet we can do better
than before yes we can decouple economic
growth
from emissions and create a real
sustainable future
and we can treat both people and planet
with respect
and decency without exploiting anyone
yes we can do it if we work together
and unleash the best of our creative
abilities
i started by saying that everything is
possible for the lord almighty and a
mechanic
and i would like to add for everyone
keen to make the world a better place
too
if a bench or even a factory can change
the world
so can you you are all invited to visit
the plus when we open
next year but first let us get more
people on board
this movement for change thank you for
your attention
you