Eddie Figueroa Feliciano designed a modular storage system based on Puerto Rican building tradition that is impressively simple.Figueroa, a Puerto Rican designer based in Milano, created the modular multifunctional container system Zanco in reference to the simple architecture building system used in impoverished neighborhoods of Puerto Rico and other Caribbean Islands before their industrialization after the second world war: A simple construction made out of inexpensive materials, that can be erected without many tools and without too much technical knowledge necessary.
Zanco’s structure consists of round wooden elements fastened to a three-dimensional grid.
In between the frames removable containers can be hang that are made out of flexible woven nylon nets of a size of up to 50 cm x 50 cm (1'8" x 1'8"). The flexible translucent nets of the containers adjust in height with the amount of objects stored and allow discovering the objects contained within.
Several containers can be hung in the frames of the structure at the same time – next to or on top of each other, depending on how much weight the nets have to hold.
Figueroa modular container system deals with the issue of showing and containing objects, putting the user in possibly in the position of presenting private collections in a rather public display.
Zanco is an interesting design to look at in the debate on the necessity to include cultural identity in design.
