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Refoam

we+

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Refoam - Masayuki Hayashi
Refoam Bench - Masayuki Hayashi
Refoam Bench - Masayuki Hayashi
Refoam - Masayuki Hayashi

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Comments
Innovation
Functionality
Creativity
Eco-Social Impact
Total
GRAND JURY VOTES
Shortlisted - Furniture of the Year
8.49
7.86
8.25
8.52
8.28
Louise Braverman
Louise Braverman Founding Principal at Louise Braverman Architect
Materials, whether old or new, feel...
9.34
5.23
10
10
8.64
Anthony Monica
Anthony Monica Architect and Asst. Professor of Architecture at Belmont University
7.5
6.89
8
6.5
7.22
Sen Lin
Sen Lin Design Director at Gazer Design
8.22
8.78
8.94
9.18
8.78
Richard Kylberg
Richard Kylberg CEO and Head of Customer Success at Blink the Design Agency
9.28
8
9.67
9.37
9.08
Alexis Vallégeas
Alexis Vallégeas Cofounder at Aimko
8
7
8
8
7.75
Ziyu Zhuang
Ziyu Zhuang Founder and Principal Architect at Büro Ziyu Zhuang Architects
7.51
6.8
8.12
9.12
7.89
Allison Rowe
Allison Rowe Former Head of Design at SPACE10
7.68
6.8
7.5
8.22
7.55
Maija Kreishman
Maija Kreishman Principal at Michael Hsu Office of Architecture
8
7.5
8.5
8
8
Paul Clayton
Paul Clayton Architect at Clayton Korte
7.96
6.91
7.18
8.07
7.53
Nils Wiberg
Nils Wiberg Interaction Designer at Gagarin
7.9
5.86
5.75
5.77
6.32
Christopher Ortiz
Christopher Ortiz Project Designer at VLK Architects
it is wonderful to see a client who...
7
6
6.75
8.5
7.06
Only Song
Only Song ISE Development Director at Amer Sports Shanghai Trading
8.2
6.8
8.1
8
7.78
Shawn Sullivan
Shawn Sullivan Partner at Rockwell Group
7
7
7
7
7
Nicolas Hauvette
Nicolas Hauvette Creative Director at Malherbe
7.24
7.35
7.26
7.43
7.32
Designer
Dimension
Stool (S): φ34cm*H42cm, Stool (M): φ35cm*H50cm, Bench: W190cm*D40cm*H52cm, Pillar:φ20cm*H84cm
Completion
2023
Material
Styrofoam
we+
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"Waste materials from Tokyo regarded as vernacular materials".

Refoam is a series of furniture pieces that attempts to reframe today's inappropriate and overly complex relationship between humans and materials. This project is part of we+'s research project, “Urban Origin”. By considering Tokyo as the origin of used materials, the project returns to the starting point of the relationship between humans and materials - "using vernacular materials and treating them simply with our own hands" - and explores new values for styrofoam.

"Simplifying the recycling process"

The material used is waste styrofoam that is collected in Tokyo. It is common for this material to be melted into ingots in intermediate treatment plants in Tokyo and its suburbs, and most are exported to Europe and SouthEast Asia. In these countries, they are treated into granules and then into inexpensive recycled plastic products, mainly from China. In Japan, these products are typically sold in 100 yen shops. Even though recycling rates are high, the process remains very complex, and the amount of transportation between countries is another problem. Refoam has therefore explored the possibility of making ingots in intermediate treatment plants for manufacturing furniture. The purpose of this project is to simplify the recycling process and, at the same time, to give a completely different value to styrofoam.