_________________________________________________________________________ paradigm noun UK /´pær.ә.daɪm / US /´per.ә.daɪm / ___________________________________________________________________________ - a model of something, or a very clear and typical example of something. - a very clear or typical example used as a model. - a set of theories that explain the way a particular subject is understood at a particular time. Synonym model Compare prototype ___________________________________________________________________________ Cambridge Online English Dictionary 2 Abstract In a time of growing consciousness around sustainability and an early paradigm shift when it comes to circular systems for furniture and interiors, as an aspiring designer, I need and must adapt accordingly within my field and creative practice. In this project, I have worked with the immense material waste that is going on, especially focusing on furniture and interiors, within the public and private sectors as well as in office environments, where this is a big issue. Guided by the United Nations Global Goal No 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production, I have experimented with, to me, new ideas for systems that deal with the upcycling and repurposing of “old” and/or discarded pieces of furniture and the material they are made from. To see what I can make of it to prolong the lifecycle and give the material a new purpose, function, and value. In my process I have acted both as an interior architect and a furniture designer but also as a sculptor and craftsman since the predetermined “waste” material I have worked with demanded a reversed design process than what a “normal” one would look like for a commercial project. The result is a series of new furniture designed and made from waste material, revisioned by me through a mix of art and design, to see how I as a designer of furniture and interiors can develop and find my path in this and to help formulate the new design paradigm and aesthetics for future circular and sustainable furniture and interior solutions that is underway. 3 Table of contents Introduction 5 Background 5 Project idea and question framing 7 Method 7 Design Process - Research 9 Degrowth and the Global Goals 9 Policies and how they can be changed 10 Circular furniture systems and Second-hand 10 Related works and Influences 15 Design Process - Implementation 20 Partners and Materials 20 Form and Surface experimentation 22 Full Scale 23 Adding Colour 25 Result and Design Proposal 26 Conclusion 32 Appendix 33 Exhibition 33 Idea, Layout and Realization 34 Outside of Konstfack 34 List of References 36 4 Introduction Background At this point in time we continuously need new systems and ideas in general to try and solve the problems we are facing when it comes to how we’re extracting and using raw materials and how we’re potentially depleting our natural resources. It makes no sense that so much fine, already extracted and produced, material in the furniture industry, or in general for that matter, is being wasted after its first lifecycle instead of being put into new use just because it’s cheaper and easier. This need to fundamentally change, and the notion of cost vs value must be highlighted, for us and our common future. My interest in sustainability was sparked in my previous project The New Goodies but Oldies, which resulted in some seating furniture made from discarded tabletops from the municipality of Nacka and the Nacka city hall. Tabletops that were on the verge of being wasted, even though the material in them was still fine, simply because they were not needed anymore. This kind of material waste and material disrespect in general is a big problem, especially within the governmental and public sector. To further explore what new things could be made from this type of material, I aim to contribute to new systems for more circular alternatives within the furniture and interior industry. There is a lot of material being wasted in vain within our field when it comes to used, old or broken furniture and interior products. However, things are now slowly happening, as more actors think holistically, sustainable, and circular. More needs to be done thought and the future role of the furniture/product designer and interior architect needs to be updated and evolved in some respects, I think. The industry, in Sweden, is slowly changing, through a handful of leading companies, but they often lack the creative and aesthetic sense in problem solving when it comes to taking even further steps in this and that’s where the likes of us designers come in. We all need to work more together. Designers, architects, the industry, clients, consumers, and people in general to shift to a more circular way of thinking in most of our dealings in life. 5 The New Goodies but Oldies project by Daniel Svahn 6 Project idea and question framing The work with The New Goodies but Oldies evoked a calling in me, based basically on the state of the world and the industry and how we need to change a lot of things to make it better and more sustainable. The new paradigm is underway, but the real work has only just begun. My work in this project is to continue to work with material that is often deemed as waste. Since my field of work, when it comes to furniture design and interior architecture, revolves much around the contract market and office furniture, that is also my focus now. Even though my ideas can be applied to other fields of design and interiors as well of course. In Sweden, several companies already work with material upcycling and reconditioning of used or “old” office furniture, and it is a field that seems to be exponentially growing with the increasing demand for sustainable alternatives. In this project I want to learn from, and connect with, these companies to see how we together can take things even further when we join both forces and expertise from our different yet similar fields. Based on my experiences from Nacka city hall, I have become interested in the material and products that even these upcycling companies have a hard time of reconditioning, and that in the end still risk being binned and ultimately incinerated. Fueled by this, my project is about how I, as well as furniture designers and interior architects in general, can adapt to and work in the current and future system for circular furniture and interiors. What would this look like for me, in this project to start, when dealing with the material surplus and waste that the up- and recycling second-hand companies cannot deal with? What can I make of it and what would that look like as new products and/or interiors? And how can I, and even others, work with this to generate new ideas, systems and products that will help to form the new design paradigm and aesthetics for future sustainable furniture and interior solutions that is underway? Method I will work with one or even more of these companies that already function within the circular furniture system today when it comes to upcycling and reconditioning. In collaboration with them I want to create new pieces of furniture and interior typologies from the material that even they themselves deem as waste or problematic to reuse for a second cycle. Exactly what materials I will work with will be determined by the companies I collaborate with and that they provide me with. Since a lot of office furniture are based on “standards”, the material will come in similar shapes and colours regardless of where I am getting it from. Some of these materials include: Tabletops with high pressure laminate, storage units of various sizes and different types of acoustic screen systems. 7 The material, and their pre-set shapes and formats, will be my starting point to design from. Depending on how much I am provided with, and what it is, I will play around with and test different ideas to figure out what I can create from it. Since it is important to me, and as a set of rules, I don’t want to make too many alterations to the material I get, but see how far I can take it with as few cuts as possible. Through this challenge, I seek to push myself to still design something interesting and hopefully different. Basically, the material itself will be an active partner in the design process and I will work with it, hands on, to design and sculpt the new pieces. Therefore, the design limitations in the project will be based around the amount and kind of material that I will be receiving to experiment with. It will also, as I stated earlier, depend on my rule of not making too many alterations to the material. This is both to challenge and push myself and my creativity in the design process but also to try and keep the hours and costs down in production to further justify making furniture this way instead of buying new ones. I will start by sketching and modelling various types and alternatives both by 3D computer models and physical scale models. However, it is in the final full-scale prototyping and making that the true proportions and form relationships will be found and decided upon. To show how I have created the final pieces, I will make pedagogical illustrations that help a user or spectator to see, follow and understand the process. Depending on the material I will strive to make a collection of furniture that could work both in offices and in other public space environments, since that is my area of focus in the project, but even in a home.