Mabeo, a Botswanan design brand, has released three new collections of furniture that make use of the leftovers from its native country's construction industry. Featuring a wide variety of pieces including a cabinet, chairs, stools, tables, and more, the entirety of Mabeo's three collections are built with either waste wood or waste metal from scrapyards and construction sites.
Though the wood and metal in the collection is polished and cleaned up, it's striking because of how little else the designers did to disguise the original purpose and use. The sheet metal on the front of Mabeo's cabinet, for example, is still crumpled and bent from however it was used on site, and the backs of the small chairs are clearly spades from old shovels.
Key Themes Behind This Trend
- Sustainable Furniture
- Opportunity for disruptive innovation: Develop new methods and techniques for constructing furniture using waste materials from the construction industry.
- Upcycled Design
- Opportunity for disruptive innovation: Explore creative ways to repurpose scrap materials into unique and stylish furniture pieces.
- Circular Economy
- Opportunity for disruptive innovation: Build a business model that focuses on recycling and reusing waste materials to create functional and beautiful furniture.
Where This Applies
- Furniture Manufacturing
- Opportunity for disruptive innovation: Incorporate sustainable practices and materials into furniture manufacturing processes.
- Construction Industry
- Opportunity for disruptive innovation: Implement strategies to reduce waste and utilize leftover materials in furniture design and construction.
- Interior Design
- Opportunity for disruptive innovation: Embrace upcycled design principles to create unique and eco-friendly furniture solutions for clients.
