2024.06.24
Swedish designers make products from waste materials
SWEDISH DESIGNERS
MAKE PRODUCTS FROM WASTE
DESIGN
Designer Kajsa Willner collaborated with pulp and paper materials company Stora Enso to turn biofuel ash from its production process into a series of pedestals with history-informed shapes.
In 2019 six Swedish design studios were asked to create a sustainable material or product using waste from a company’s industrial production process. The results will be showcased at the exhibition Metabolic Process for Leftovers that opens on February 4 at Form/Design Centre in Malmö, curated by Kiosk Studio.
"Many of the designers developed almost recipe-like approaches for making use of waste materials, a very progressive and fun angle to solve the problem – and hence the reference to 'Leftovers' in the exhibition title," says curator Josefin Askfel at Kiosk Studio.
Kajsa Willner's pedestals made from ash from paper mill Stora Enso, Lab La Bla and Natural Material Studio's shelves from leftover MDF and veneer from kitchen company Ballingslöv, and Carl-Ludvig Svensson's sustainable material grown from fungus developed from sawdust waste from timber company Vida, are just some of the examples.
"The way the designers have been working during What Matter_s 2.0, is a great example of what can happen when a designer is let in to a project at an early stage and really is allowed to be part of the whole process. Asking the unpleasant or odd questions, bringing in the necessary collaborators/ knowledge, applying the problem solving mind or just the rebel inside is absolutely key for design. And again we must emphasise the significance of collaboration, without the interest from the producers this wouldn’t have been possible.," Askfelt says.
“It is wise to continue looking closer to home. As we are currently understanding and learning about the consequences of the era of the anthropocene, we simultaneously need to re-discover the potential of the local”
Lab La Bla and Natural Material Studio x Ballingslöv.
Lab La Bla and Natural Material Studio created shelves from leftover MDF and veneer from kitchen company Ballingslöv.
Kajsa Willner x Stora Enso.
The whole project is a 2.0 phase of the first project What Matter_s initiated by Form/Design Center, SPOK and Art & Science Initiative, referring to the essence and what really matters – the materials.The purpose of the project was to present the innovative power of interdisciplinary collaborations, especially in times like these.
"It is wise to continue looking closer to home. As we are currently understanding and learning about the consequences of the era of the anthropocene, we simultaneously need to re-discover the potential of the local, Askfelt says and adds:
"Perhaps even more so now with the current situation of the pandemic we see with closed borders. But it also reminds us that there is plenty to discover, and if we are transparent and keep our systems and tentacles open and collaborate, then the future is full of possibilities. We just have to let go of some ingredients, look at what we have at hand and come up with new recipes."
Carl-Ludvig Svensson collaborated with timber company Vida.
M&E's material made with Scandinavian lifting specialist Movomech.
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