Recycled plastic and rattan used for sustainable furniture

Copenhagen-based designers Mater have unveiled a new chair alongside a stool made from recycled materials, both designed by architect, Eva Karlou.

Karlou is the CEO and co-founder of interior design practice Earth Studio, which as a partnership with Mater.

Mater were founded in 2006 and base their designs around three key principles: design, craftmanship and ethics.

Earth Studio develops furniture, lighting and products that are manufactured by Mater using working methods that support people, local craft traditions and the environment. They also design sustainable interior projects.

...Translating an old craft tradition into the new modern design age

The latest designs both use recycled or sustainably sourced materials to create products with a distinctly Scandinavian aesthetic. The stool features a seat made from either recycled plastic-packaging waste or FSC-certified oak.

"The steel pipe frame is reusable, and the light yet solid stool represents timeless classic Scandinavian design created in an elegant composition that matches every indoor interior," said the company.

Karlou also developed the He and She Chairs to coincide with the 100th anniversary of influential German architect Walter Gropius founding the Bauhaus art school in Weimar. A tubular steel frame is present on both chairs and is reminiscent of furniture designed by Marcel Breuer and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe of the Bauhaus faculty.

"The cane work is applied to the wooden oak frame in a proud third-generation Danish wicker workshop, thereby translating an old craft tradition into the new modern design age," Mater added.

The choice of a fast-growing and naturally harvested rattan enhances the chair’s level of sustainability.