TITLE:
Manifesto for Sustainability
CONTEXT:
ID Green
ROLE:
DESIGNER STORYTELLER
EXPERTISE AREAS:
USER & SOCIETY
CREATIVITY & AESTHETICS
TECHNOLOGY & REALIZATION
MATERIALS:
Recycled fabric, recycled bike frames, plastic
This chair was built from discarded bicycle frames and scrap fabric, designed around the theme of repurposing. In the Netherlands, bikes are ubiquitous, yet easily discarded. By piecing together forgotten frames, I sought to challenge how we perceive value, not just functionally but emotionally. The chair is not about hiding its past; it celebrates the scratches, dents, and tension of its former life.
The fabric was sourced from scrap textile bins within the crafting wearable senses squad and stitched into a seat that folds softly into the industrial frame. This contrast of soft and hard elements, stitched vs. connected mirrors the contradiction at the heart of repurposed design: transforming the rigid into the restful.
Designing this chair was not just a material exercise, but a reflection on system-level sustainability. The chair questions not only how we design, but what we discard. The resulting object is a seat, but also a stance against linearity and toward circular narratives. If a bicycle can become a chair, then surely everything can become anything.