Objects

END-OF-LIFE TEXTILES become fuel for renewal. FLAX FURNITURE has a fresh future. SPIRITUALITY shines in design. Discover new directions in the world of products.

MATERIALS – Today’s linear economic system – often referred to as the ‘take-makedispose’ model – sees many resources wasted and materials discarded after a single use. A major player is the textile industry, where approximately 95 per cent of used or leftover fabrics are suitable for recycling, but only 25 per cent actually achieve that goal. Designers are responding to the current situation by joining the search for material infinity. They’re

turning to processes that extend beyond the end product and focusing on the principles of a circular economy and systems thinking. Exploring opportunities for nudging the economic system into a more natural orbit, they envision a future in which a product eventually becomes a resource for the following product – a future in which design for circularity becomes the norm. – CB

Self-proclaimed champion of circular design, Really – a brand partly owned by Kvadrat – tackles global waste by urging designers to rethink their resources. For Really’s debut collection, Max Lamb used the company’s solid textile board – made from Kvadrat cutoffs and end-oflife cotton and wool – to create a set of fully recyclable benches.

Amazed by the excess of material discarded by the automotive, fashion, footwear and furniture industries, Milanese designer Jorge Penadés began looking for new ways to reuse leather. His Structural Skin is a composite material made from leather remnants and resin formed under high pressure into reconstituted ‘boards’. The latest reincarnation of Structural Skin is a series of lamps. jorgepenades.com

Central Saint Martins MA Material Futures student Jenny Banks is the initiator of #sustainablefastfashion, a project that questions the durability of products supplied by mainstream fashion labels. The process she developed allows textile remnants to be used as raw materials for 3D printers in an attempt to apply advanced technology to the fast-fashion industry for the sake of sustainability. jenny-banks.co.uk

Making daily work routines more dynamic – that’s what the innovative Lordo series, sleek design courtesy of Martin Ballendat, stands for: thanks to the patented seatadjustment mechanism and smart backrest technology, the seat anatomy follows the user’s movement in a synchronous, ergonomic fashion. This ensures that the body is always kept in balance.

Dauphin HumanDesign®Group GmbH & Co. KG Espanstraße 36 I 91238 Offenhausen, Germany Tel. +49 9158 17-700 I Fax +49 9158 17-701 www.dauphin-group.com I info@dauphin-group.com