Waste-based design projects that have a completely new aesthetic
One of the most sustainable ways of how to create a new and sustainable material is to use what we’ve already got. Using waste not only saves you resources, it also comes free or very cheap most of the time and even has a great impact by not landing on landfills or in the ocean.
There are many innovative and beautiful ways, in which waste has been used to create something new. I want to show you my favorite projects I have collected by curating Greendesigns_ on Instagram. These are coming from design students, small businesses or even big companies. The aesthetic that comes from using waste is truly beautiful and it is fascinating considering that they cannot be created using virgin materials.
Five Mile Radius’ Waste Terrazzo is an innovative concrete surface formed entirely from Australian construction and demolition waste. Used as a benchtop, table or seat, each unique made-to-order Waste Terrazzo surface combines excess wet concrete with crushed demolition waste to create a beautiful and customizable surface.
The concrete in Waste Terrazzo is sourced from building sites when more wet concrete is supplied than required. At present, builders often have no choice but to dump this excess on site or into landfill. Instead, Five Mile Radius has designed a time critical system to intercept this wet concrete off the construction community, transport it to their workshop and pour it into pre-prepared moulds. To the concrete they add a variety of crushed construction waste, creating a unique pattern in the surface of each bench. After curing, the surface is ground and polished to a glass-like finish.
The production of concrete accounts for over 8% of worldwide carbon emissions, it is the second most consumed resource in the world, after water. We require innovation, like Waste Terrazzo, at every step of the supply chain.
Natural Matter by Olhoj Daguna is a concept of a new material based on natural elements together with food residues such as nutshells and fruits peels (peanuts, almonds, walnuts, orange, lemon, egg, etc.). In order to be used as natural paste glue or alternative to wood using molds, it consists of several processes for experimenting with different situations and considering possible production techniques such as pressing, extrusion, 3D printing or manual molding.
In this research, the designer explored materials based on elements found in nature such as blond pitch (rosin or pine resin), pure beeswax, linseed oils, coconut, almond, etc. and tried to use them in the most natural way possible, just melting in a water bath, the resin, the waxes, the oils, always changing the quantities of each material and observing the results, concluding that clearly some formulas work better than others.
Is an ecologically and economically sustainable material because the idea is to avoid waste, thinking about how to use this wasted matter and give it a second life. Thus, creating alternatives to glues, and materials used in the production of packaging, furniture, etc. Since it easily degrades when in contact with dirt (by composting), it is modulable when hot and after drying gets a good resistance and behaviour to be used as a material for product.
Adobe Solar Lamp’ by design student Luis Fernando Barrios Vanegas was created to fit into the context of his country of origin, Mexico. By using local waste materials, Luis provides the opportunity for anyone with no electricity services to build a lamp for themselves! There are roughly 7 million Mexicans living in rural areas, who would fall into this category and are in use of this innovative design.
The waste materials he uses are adobe (mud), paper waste and cactus slime, which are all natural and available all over the country. Cactus slime actually has a rich history in this region, is easy to grow, lightweight, low-cost and very durable. This mixture becomes firm by putting it into sunlight and letting it dry.
This design project by Francesco Cantini is about he Mediterranean sea and analyses it as a habitat composed of endemic plant species. In order to give more value to natural material waste resources, Cesco used a local seaweed and other natural resources close to the sea, in combination with local natural resins (extracted from a Mediterranean tree species) to create a new sustainable materials. The process is introduced in a circular design perspective, which seeks to fit into the natural flows of matter by exploiting the outputs of the natural system as inputs of the industrial system.
Outcome of the research and design phase are three pieces, a table ‚Posidone‘, which is inspired by the shape of the mediterranean sea. Also, he created a stool ‚Teti‘, which modest shape enhances the roughness of the material and imitates the hegropropyls, the small fibrous spheres of posidonia from which the material of which it is made derives. Driade is a lamp whose shapes take up the myth of the dryads. The lamp body is made of terracotta with a natural wax finish, posidonia foliage has been applied on the lower part which after cooking leaves its trace as a decorative motif.
What do you think of these projects? Do you think that waste can become a standard for manufacturing in design or building in architecture?
