Gennarino - Steps for Dog
Category: Furniture
Competitions: Home Competition 2026
The Gennarino - Steps for Dog is a school work of a design student Ivana Vresilovicova, the tutor was designer Rastislav Ceresna. It was designed and prototyped at the Faculty of Architecture and Design of Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Slovakia. The Faculty courses lead the students to think and design customer oriented, bring effective and affordable solutions, and also be environmentally conscious and responsible. The outcoming product comprises all these tasks, it is eco-friendly, suitable for wide range of users i.e. dogs, for those ones with a limited mobility as well. There are hundreds of millions pet-dogs in the world so it is important to think out of the box when it comes to designing products and accessories for them - the products must not only be fully functional and esthetical, but also ecological as there is a so big number of them being produced. In the end of the day, each product is once disposed, so it must have as little environmental impact as possible. The substantial part of this product is made from a composite consisting of the technological wastes from several industries, i.e. paper-mill sludge (69% wt.) and starch glue (25% wt.) which otherwise would be disposed after the production charge, and then the cork chippings (6% wt.) from the raw cork processing. Together with steps´cushion made from coconut fibres, the design brings upcycling of these technological wastes, giving them a second life and reduces their amount landfilled. As the composite is water-based, it is soft in the wet state and moldable into various shapes. The product parts were molded by hot-pressing at a relatively low temperature and pressure (160 Celsius degrees, 10 bar), afterwards they were dried-out at the sun or in the drier. The composite is recyclable for several times, fully biodegradable and compostable in the garden at the end of product´s lifecycle. The product consists of two main parts where the smaller part can be put into the bigger one. When the smaller part is partly pulled out, the parts are creating steps. On top of both steps there is a cushion made of coconut fibres for mitigating the impact on dog´s joints at hopping, with an upper layer made of flax linen which is replaceable and washable and can be changed to another kind of textile, carpet etc. to individualize the product so that it fits better to the interior. The dog silhouettes on the side walls of product are laser-cut from poplar plywood (3 mm thick) and can be custom, as well as the whole product size. The Gennarino - Steps for Dog is usable for long term, it is flexible, adjustable and reliable for its purpose, bearable the dog´s weight. As a high percentage of product (about 99% wt.) is made of bio-based renewable compounds, recyclable or compostable at the end of product´s lifecycle, the product has almost zero or none carbon footprint. When compared to other similar available products made mainly of plastics, polyesther, polyurethane foam or massive wood, whose use pollutes the environment or contributes to reduction of animal habitats, this product is clearly an environmentally responsible option.
