New Designers 08: Goldsmiths University graduate Oliver Bishop-Young presented two projects about skips at New Designers in London earlier this month.

The first is a proposal for a website where people upload information about the contents of skips so others can salvage items they need from them. Update 31/07/08: see more photos of SkipWaste in our new story here.

The SkipWaste site would be searchable by items required or location and shows a photo of each skip plus its location on a map. Visit a demo version of the website here.

The second project (shown here) involved converting empty skips into public spaces such as skate parks, swimming pools and gardens.

The following information is from Bishop-Young:

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My work focuses on skips and looks at three main areas: exchange of waste materials, re-use of waste and making use of wasted spaces.

SkipWaste.org.uk is a site that documents the contents and locations of skips, allowing the exchange of materials before they go to landfill.

These three attachments (below) aide the recovery of materials from skips. The plinth elevates the status of last object added to the skip and makes it easily accessible.

It can be shameful for some to be seen peering into a skip, the mirror makes it easy to see inside at a glance. A black board contents pagedocuments all that is added and removed from a skip, providing a catalogue of what is on offer.

Skip ramp is made from a collection of materials gathered from skips; it reuses them to form a mini ramp in a skip. Pete King a professional skater along with Sidewalk magazine came to do an article on the design. Skip ramp was one of many conversions made to the skip using reclaimed materials.