Category Archives: upcycling

mesh and re-mesh

A the Lexus installation at the Salone del Mobile there was an interesting installation about generation of mesh structures which provided hints for their eventual re-generation and re-use. The chair above was manufactured using a 3D printer from 2kg of fused Nylon powder. As part of the exhibition a series of models depicted how the […]

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fibrous furnishings

Aside from the rare up-cycled or open design project at this past week’s Salone del Mobile in Milan, there were very few radically new concepts and a lot of kinda-pretty-but-useless stuff. Very few designers targeted the environment in radical new ways, and almost none contributed significant inventions. One booth, however, had two promising new materials […]

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media wallet

Another find from Last week’s Designersblock: these wallets made from old cassettes split in half, gutted and joined with a zipper (by Marcella Foschi). She also authored these brilliant chandeliers made from tank tops:

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trashcam

nico van hoorn documents one piece of trash a day on his trashlog. the pieces of trash are carefully selected and shot, which makes them seem clean and pretty, and the website itself is compartmentalized and orderly, so nothing about it has the feel of trash. it would be nice if the items could accumulate […]

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renewable packaging

i just picked up this balinesian sea salt packaged in a coconut at whole foods because i couldn’t resist the packaging design (or lack thereof). never mind the idea of shipping salt, let alone from bali. the coconut packaging has three distinct advantages over the plastic, metal foil and paper that the other foods are […]

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re-furnish

the best kind of recycling is up-cycling, and there’s nothing better than transforming trash into something more valuable while conserving resources. in the spirit of william good, project 99 takes old chair frames and re-upholsters them with rubber, cow hide, wallpaper(above) or vintage clothes (below). the junk furniture can then be re-sold for 99 euros. […]

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re-style

william good is a new line of fashions designed by nick graham (founder of joe boxer) sold on-line and in partnership with goodwill stores in the san francisco area. an interesting take on up-cycling, these clothes are made from donated garments at the store to which some design elements are added and then re-sold at […]

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upcycled architecture

when i wrote about the WOBO, the bottle’s designer john habraken wrote me to tell of another up-cycling project he did in the seventies, this time using discarded industrial materials like oil drums and car parts to build buildings (see his image above). i drummed up some images of the proposed designs: which reminds me […]

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