WHIMSICAL CANS
public projects and echo team up to create new waste amenities
Artists: Brendan Rose, Cortney MacNeil, Jeylan (Wolf) Bowdin, and Public Projects team
Brendan Rose and his team at Echo, an architecture and design studio, hired The Steel Yard to manage the fabrication of some of the coolest trash cans you’ve ever seen.
“The Steel Yard has worked with Brendan Rose in a number of ways. He’s been an excellent lead artist on a number of public projects; he’s taught workforce training programs, and now he has a micro-residency! That’s why we were THRILLED when Brendan came to us to partner on a Public Project for his home town in Syracuse, NY. ”
-Jenny Sparks, PP Clients Relations Manager
While the cans certainly bring vibrant playfulness to the streets they also have some pretty cool functional features:
- Built-in hinging lids, allowing the liners to be lifted out and emptied.
- These lids also serve as rain and snow protection.
- The circular holes in the top layer of lids hold recyclable bottles.
It was important to the design team that they serve the community, and they noticed that, prior to these new cans, several community members would pull out bottles and cans from the trash to redeem and recycle. With this new design feature, hopefully, no one will need to root through the trash anymore, and the bottles and cans can just be picked up off the top.Â