Rehab

By WGSN Materials team, 10 January 2011

Quick craft/ cut and paste/ repair/ rehash

Harnessing the principle of using that which is at

hand, Rehab reflects economic thrift and an
awareness of sustainability, by reusing and reappropriating materials and existing products.
Playful mixes of the natural and the synthetic are
cut, pasted and rehashed into rich conclusions
making an eclectic aesthetic. A resurgence in
DIY, found materials and colour create
unexpected textural mixes and an overriding
sense of optimism.

2012/13, Autumn/winter fall/winter

Research & Reference

Speed creating
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Drawing Machine by JL Griffiths

Design Against the Clock at Established & Sons

This pedal-powered drawing

machine by Joseph Griffiths
creates vivid crayon drawings
on the wall, offering a free
and instinctual approach to
creation. The use of everyday
objects and primary
techniques of manual craft
allows fast-paced creation to
take place.

Creation under pressure

engaged the public
with interesting results at this
years London Design Week
2010. Established & Sons
invited well-known designers
to make and create under the
restriction of time, with an
emphasis on making and
demonstrating quick material
processes that communicated
a hands-on approach.

josephlgriffiths.com

Speed Creating Project by Dominic Wilcox, Day 25:

Door Stop Extension

While going about his daily life,

Dominic Wilcox consciously
chose to make objects,
installations and creative
inventions from re-appropriated
objects and materials. The
project forced the designer to
make quick decisions, creating
instinctively over a 30-day
period.
variationsonnormal.com

www.designboom.com

Re-appropriated

Things Revisited Things Creating by Henry Wilson,

2010

Being a consciously aware

designer and consumer,
Henry Wilson questions the
need to create more when the
world is already full. Instead

We Make Carpets, 2010

Plastic Fandangos by Committee

Design collective We Make

Carpets use everyday objects
and small product to create unsurprisingly - carpets.
Unexpected mixes include

The oddness of household

items is the subject of the
Plastic Fandangos project.
Commissioned by Arts Co to
consider the use of plastics in

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of producing something new,

he takes existing objects,
widening their functionality by
adding and adapting - with
extra legs, handles and
stands - to continue the
product lifecycle.
www.designacademy.nl

bricks, coffee and different

types of medical tape. By
layering incongruous
materials, pattern and form
together to create odd
compositions, the process
and material dictate the
carpet form.

product design from an

environmental viewpoint, the
work reclaims plastic objects
and giving them a new purpose
when combined with other
random items.
www.gallop.co.uk

wemakecarpets.wordpress.com

Cut and paste

Micheal Van Der Ham spring/summer 2011

Designer Michael Van Der

Ham splices and layers
fabrics in his patchworked
garments to multi-textural
effect. His dresses look like
they have been cut and
pasted together from multiple
garments and materials,
giving an overall mixed and
off-kilter aesthetic.
www.michaelvanderham.com

Cardboard and Resin Table by El Ultimo Grito,

2009-2010

Humble materials - like

cardboard and resin - are
cleverly used by creative
partnership El Ultimo Grito to
take re-use to a more
functional and considered
level. They roughly made a
tabletop and legs out of
cardboard boxes and tape for
the Royal College of Art's
Design Products department.
The piece was then dipped in
resin ,sealing the product for
durability and usefulness.
www.dailytonic.com
www.dezeen.com

Collaged spaces

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Basket Tower by Claudia Rieger, Ilse Walter

Considering sustainability and

the misuse of plastics in the
environment, old plastic bins
have been re-appropriated and
given a new life. New bases
and lids made out of wicker,
rattan and weed have been
woven on to repair holes and
mend form. A mix of colour,
texture and material has been
assembled for a new aesthetic.
www.cordulakehrer.de

Box Light Alon Meron, 2010

The Pound Shop by Asif Khan

In Alon Meron's Box Light

lowly materials are revitalised.
An old cardboard box is
threaded with wires to create
a new interior light.
The simple functionality of
this makeshift aesthetic works
in a home environment.

The current thrift climate

inspired designer and curator
Asif Khan to create a pop-up
shop in Bethnal Green as part
of London Design Week. Dust
sheets and ropes covered
furniture, walls and floors.
Products costing just 1 each
rested on top of the makeshift
interior, creating an
impermanent feel.

www.dezeen.com

www.thepoundshop.org

Low-res prototyping

Endless by Dirk van der Kooij

Prototyping processes are

being reinterpreted and and
plastic materials like old
fridges reused in an inventive
approach to material
manufacture. The economic
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Matthew Donaldson recently

created a magnetic film tribute
to Danish textile brand
Kvadrat. A series of foam
shapes upholstered in vibrant
colours are suspended and
dropped through space to
highlight the brand's approach
to re-configuring simple
components to create
optimised seating space.
www.nowness.com

climate is pushing designers

like Dirk vander Kooij to reactivate prototyping
machinery, which would
ordinarily be scrap.
The machine he uses prints a
continuous string of plastic to
build up the shape of any
piece in layers, resulting in a
grainy textured plastic that
creates a new reclaimed
aesthetic for rapid form.
dirkvanderkooij.nl

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