A Fresh Look On Recycled Design

Some say it is a clear sign of the current global situation, with its financial crisis and social instability. People don’t feel like buying new things like they used to, or they simply can no longer afford the buying routines that they used indulge in before the global financial crisis hit the planet.

Others say it is the visible acknowledgement of the fact that we can’t just keep throwing trash and “old stuff we no longer use” into the environment, and it is time we started finding ways to re-use it.

Personally I’m not quite sure how to explain it, or why more and more it is occupying the front row in major design events and exhibitions.  The Truth is that this year, at the Milan Design Week I saw artistic expressions of design using “recycled” material like I had never seen before.

In very few words, I like it

I like the idea that “old stuff” doesn’t necessarily need to end up in landfill, and the idea of challenging our human creativity, so much is spoiled as a result of laziness induced by the abundance of goods available.

And to be honest with you, most of those “recycled material creative expressions” that I saw during Design Week this year kept my eyes and neuron’s occupied for a long time, looking at how well those second hand materials had been put together and how much “design content” those objects offered…talk about “design with purpose….”

I was particularly attracted to the objects that I saw in the famous Spazio Orlandi. The owner of this galleria has been known for years now as being the “avanguardista” of new and alternative design expression, and all somehow are always in exceptional good taste.

Interestingly enough, many of the objects that I saw this year were inspired by the theme of recycled design, and I want to share them with you…Enjoy, and I look forward to hearing your opinions on recycled design!

This scrapbook tabletop not only recycles but offers something unique to the owner.	Plastic Table
Creativity can add beautiful features to otherwise unremarkable furniture	A chair from shredded paper

Leather? no its a recycled paper hat	Deceiving the eye, recycled paper	Recycled Paper Bag
Reusing fabric for a patchwork chair	A mishmash of fabric and styles	Reusing old floorboards for a bench
Wooden Pallets	Reused Wooden Shelf	An artistic means of re-using metal netting