Emergent materials and their associated technologies are continuing to change the way that architects and designers work and the way that users engage with products. In recent years we have seen technology exerting a massive influence on the material advances we make, but at the same time new priorities have started to make an impact on the direction that materials innovation is taking.
A strong interest in the environment has led consumers to have a far greater awareness about our impact on the planet and its diminishing resources. Green design and sustainability have therefore become hot topics for designers and architects who are seeking out materials that will not only boost efficiency and reduce waste, but that will also increase competitiveness by lowering costs.
Often unsatisfied with the speed of materials innovation, an increasing number of designers and architects are starting to develop their own new materials and production processes that can better satisfy their needs. This was the case for Meike Meijer, a Dutch design student who, acutely aware of the enormous amount of newspapers and magazines that are discarded and recycled into new paper each day, decided that there was potentially a better use for yesterday’s news.
It was during her studies at the Design Academy Eindhoven in 2003 that came up with the idea of NewspaperWood, a production process whereby wood, that had been turned into paper, could be transformed once again back into wood. Meike started her experimentation by taking some glue and a roller and sticking layer upon layer of paper together until the first paper ‘log’ was created.
Further experimentation revealed that when a NewspaperWood log is cut, the layers of paper appear like lines of a wood grain or the rings of a tree and therefore resembles the aesthetic of real wood. Meike also discovered that material can be cut, milled and sanded and generally treated like any other type of wood. Needless to say she passed her course, but her new invention sadly ended up in a box at the back of her wardrobe.
It wasn’t until 2007 when she met Arjan and Anieke of designlabel Vij5 that interest in Meike’s new material was revived. The following year the team presented the material during Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven and the response was overwhelming. In 2009, the material was even nominated for the ‘Doenmateriaalprijs’, a Dutch award for the sustainable and innovative use of materials.
Eventually the team decided that it was time to really put the material to the test and they sent out invitations to other designers asking them to come up with their own designs using Meike’s new material. A range of prototype objects and furniture, including jewellery, a lamp and a display cabinet, were created by a talent group of young designers and the first collection was exhibited in Milan earlier this year.
I personally love the idea of this new material and hope to see many more designers experimenting with NewspaperWood in the future. How about you? What would you like to see made of your old newspapers?