Content type: Industrial Design Project
Credits: Conrado Bergemann (Alumnus, MA Industrial Design, KABK, 2019)
Year: 2016-2019

Introduction:
In the project Free to Alter: The Modular Motor Project, designer Conrado Bergemann explores modularity, waste, repairability, circular design and 3D printing. In an effort to eliminate the need for the unnecessary and repeated manufacture of hardware that often sits idle or is thrown out when one part breaks, Bergemann has made a modular multi-purpose domestic appliance. All that is needed is a single motor to which different appliances can be attached. This combination of modularity and accessibility means that the motor and the appliances are more repairable than if they were encased or black-boxed. Users can choose and print out parts from an open-source digital library.

Free to Alter

Computer render of the motor with the milk whisk component.
Computer render of the Modular Motor with the milk whisk component. Image courtesy of the designer.
Exploded sketch of the Modular Motor.
Exploded sketch of the Modular Motor. Image courtesy of the designer.
Design components
This image shows designs for components submitted by classmates at KABK. The Hand Mixer by Jen Sengers, the Garden Drill and Electric Scrubber by Cecilia Polonara and the Milk Frother by Leon Wezenberg. Image courtesy of the designer.
Early prototype of the modular motor component.
Early prototype of the Modular Motor component. Image courtesy of the designer.
The final modular motor with the Garden Drill component attached.
The final Modular Motor with the Garden Drill component attached. Image courtesy of the designer.