Dezeen Showroom: Swedish design studio Interesting Times Gang has made a new version of its 3D-printed Kelp chair, made from seaweed instead of recycled plastic.
Interesting Times Gang's original 2022 Kelp chair was made of recycled fishing nets and wood pulp, and was named after the undulating lines of its form, inspired by ocean vegetation.
Ever since its initial release, the studio has harboured the ambition to realise the chair made from its namesake macroalgae, which would make use of an organism that is proving important in the transition to bio-based materials.
"Macroalgae play a vital role in capturing carbon and produce at least 50 per cent of Earth's oxygen," said Interesting Times Gang. "Scaling up the cultivation and utilisation of kelp has a pivotal role when it comes to mitigating the effects of climate change."
The chair is made using type of kelp called Nordic sugar kelp, a brown seaweed that grows in the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans. This is made into a bioplastic that is 3D printed.
The Sugar Kelp chair can be completed with a cushion that is also made with material from the same source – the upholstery is made from Keel Labs's seaweed-based Kelsun fibre and the foam filler is made from kelp biofoam from Norwegian start-up Agoprene.
According to Interesting Time Gang, the chair is biodegradable at the end of its life.
Product details:
Product: Kelp chair
Designer: Alexander Westerlund
Brand: Interesting Times Gang
Contact: hello@itg.studio
Material: Nordic sugar kelp, bioplastic blend of PLA and PHA
Colours/finishes: Light Umber
Dimensions: 400 x 500 x 840 millimetres
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