[08. Forward-looking
Packaging that establishes a responsible relationship with its own future. It is able to act today with full awareness of potential future consequences.
The decisions that shape today’s packaging must not be based solely on immediate advantage, but should carefully consider the long-term impact they may produce.
From WOBO to Liter of Light: stories of bottles that inspire responsibility and future-oriented design
From the 1960s to today, a bottle can tell much more than just the story of its contents.
The story of WOBO is one of those past intuitions that withstand the test of time: an example of packaging designed not only to contain, but to build.
A design response to real social needs, created with a vision that looked ahead to the future.
In 1960, during a trip to the Caribbean island of Curaçao, Alfred Heineken – a Dutch entrepreneur and the grandson of Gerard Adriaan Heineken, founder of the brewery – Heineken – observed two problems that seemed unrelated at first glance: on one hand, widespread poverty and a lack of building materials; on the other, the enormous number of empty beer bottles discarded everywhere. His idea was bold: to turn those very bottles into bricks. Thus, in 1963, the WOBO – World Bottle – project was born, developed with the support of Dutch architect and designer John Habraken, already known at the time for his theories on Open Building, an approach that promotes flexible and participatory systems designed to be completed, adapted, or transformed by the users themselves.
The idea was as simple as it was revolutionary: to create a glass bottle with a square, modular shape, designed to be stacked and reused, after its initial use, in the construction of housing structures. The bottle featured specific interlocking elements, inspired by building bricks.
In collaboration with Habraken, Heineken produced an initial experimental batch of about 100,000 bottles in two sizes: 350 ml and 500 ml. They were made of thick green glass, with flat sides to facilitate stacking and a longitudinal groove for interlocking. Some prototypes are now considered collector’s items.
The bottles were tested in a prototype building constructed on the Heineken family estate. Laid horizontally with cement mortar, they allowed for the construction of stable and well-insulated walls, thanks also to the strength of the glass. The project showcased a circular vision and genuine attention to the housing needs of the most vulnerable communities.
Despite its potential, the project was never adopted on a large scale. Logistical challenges and the beverage industry’s reluctance to embrace such a radical model limited its expansion and ultimately led to its abandonment. Nevertheless, the bottle remains an enduring symbol of what can happen when social ethics meet design innovation.
WOBO was much more than a container: it was an ethical design gesture with a clear social and environmental purpose. A forerunner of upcycling, conceived decades before terms like “circular economy” entered common vocabulary.
WOBO was developed by Alfred Heineken after he realized that while his products were reaching markets all over the world, the containers were being discarded—creating waste in places where they could instead help solve real problems. The idea of a container that could be transformed into a building material emerged as a response to a dual urgency: environmental sustainability and social inclusion. Some original WOBO bottles are now preserved by the Heineken Collection Foundation in Amsterdam and displayed in museums as examples of good design and sustainability. Its story continues to inspire designers and innovators seeking new ways to combine functionality, aesthetics, and responsibility.
In 2019, Heineken revived the bottle’s design with the project Spirit of Heineken: una limited edition spirit distilled from the waste produced during non-alcoholic beer production, bottled in the original WOBO. A tribute to its own history, but also a statement on the relevance of reuse as an ethical act.
The Heineken bottle, although it never found industrial application, helped steer design in a new direction: that of packaging as “social infrastructure.” An idea that other projects, in different times and contexts, have also attempted to explore.
Among the most emblematic initiatives of recent years is the Liter of Light project, launched in 2011 in the Philippines by the MyShelter Foundation, founded by Illac Diaz. The goal was simple yet radical: to provide a sustainable, low-cost, and replicable source of light to communities without access to electricity. The idea was inspired by an invention from Brazilian mechanic Alfredo Moser, who in 2002 created a DIY solar lamp: a transparent plastic bottle filled with water and a small amount of bleach, installed in the roof to refract sunlight into the home. This system, also known as the Moser Lamp, could produce light equivalent to a 40–60 watt bulb during the day, and the bleach prevented algae growth.
Liter of Light adopted and enhanced this solution, also developing an advanced version equipped with small solar panels, rechargeable batteries, and LEDs, capable of functioning at night. The installations are made using local materials, and the know-how is directly transferred to the communities, generating employment and technical self-sufficiency. The project is now active in over 30 countries, has brought light to hundreds of thousands of homes, and stands as a model of participatory, accessible, and socially transformative design.
Just like WOBO, Liter of Light was born from an intuition: seeing the bottle not merely as a container, but as a response to a social need. Both projects show that packaging can become infrastructure—it can create meaning, light, shelter
Today, as we talk about “upcycling,” “regenerative design,” and “circular packaging,” experiences like WOBO and Liter of Light represent a cultural and design heritage that we can revisit with fresh eyes. In a world marked by environmental and social crises, inspiration can come precisely from those radical ideas that, both then and now, seek new forms of responsibility. What unites these examples is an open question: what can a bottle truly contain? A liquid, of course. But also a vision, a responsibility, an idea of the future.
WOBO, in particular, reminds us that packaging can be much more than a technical solution—it can become a tool for social transformation, designed to provide concrete answers and generate value in everyday spaces. That’s what makes it a radical project in its simplicity: a bottle conceived to contain, but above all, to build.
In this sense, WOBO is a pioneering embodiment of a clear idea of purpose: to shape a positive social impact, generate shared value, and help improve people’s lives and the quality of the environment they live in.
oday, talking about purpose doesn’t mean chasing slogans, but rather returning to the fundamental question of why behind our design choices—of the direction in which we steer creativity, resources, and technology. It’s a reflection that concerns every stage of the process and involves designers, producers, and communicators alike. It’s no longer just about what works, but about what is truly worth building. This vision is increasingly central to corporate policies and sustainability strategies, as highlighted by organizations like the World Economic Forum, which emphasize that the concept of value must go beyond profit to include social, environmental, and cultural well-being.
In the debate on packaging and sustainability, it is essential to reclaim this dimension. Innovation alone is not enough—we need to guide innovation and turn it into responsibility. Ethics and design must be in dialogue. Those working in the packaging sector today—designers, brands, manufacturers, distributors—have the opportunity (and the responsibility) to bring this question back to the forefront: what role can packaging play in building a more equitable, more inclusive, more human world?
WOBO is not just a testament to the past. It is a trail, a possibility, an enduring source of inspiration for those who believe that packaging can truly contribute to building a more responsible and shared future
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