Do Good: How Design Can Change the World

Chapter 10. How we do Good is how we do Good

William Warren’s “Shelves for Life”: re-use to the extreme

Designer

William Warren, UK

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A solid, plywood set of floor-standing shelves are designed to last you a lifetime. Then when your time arrives, the shelves can be taken apart and reassembled as a coffin. The brass plate that tells the story about this transformation can even be flipped over and your dates inscribed. As Warren explains, “The shelves simply have the potential to be a coffin in the future. We’re all going to die and we will all need a coffin, so why not make your coffin from some-thing you’ve owned and ...