Hasta La Ideas

In an effort to make them look “magical,” designers of your average wireless charging pad give them a monolithic look. Which typically means, good luck taking it apart if it ever needs to be fixed.

London-based design studio Blond decries this. “Last year, research by the European Commission found that 11,000 tonnes of electronic waste is caused by disposed and unused chargers,” the company writes. Thus they designed Fold, a concept for a striking-looking folding charger with visible innards, designed for disassembly. It can charge multiple objects at once.

“With product longevity in mind, Fold has been stripped back to its most fundamental necessities, creating an almost skeletal aesthetic – unlike the majority of chargers which are typically constructed from many different materials that are sandwiched between layers of glue – making them virtually impossible to repair, reuse or recycle.”

“Fold’s skeletal form [gives] consumers access to the fastening methods so the product can be taken apart to be upgraded or maintained, especially as charging technology relentlessly moves on.”

Alas, at this point it’s just a concept. Should it prove viable, I’m guessing this would absolutely kill it on Kickstarter.