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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
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Creativity
Eco-Social Impact
Total
GRAND JURY VOTES
Shortlisted - Furniture of the Year
8.49
7.86
8.25
8.52
8.28
Stephanie Lund
Stephanie Lund Cofounder and Creative Director at toi toi toi creative studio
7.75
7.5
7
6
7.06
Emily White
Emily White Experiential Design Lead at Deloitte Digital
I would have liked the concept to b...
4
6
3
4
4.25
Claudio Fiore Massenz
Claudio Fiore Massenz Sustainability Design Expert for the Built Environment at PVH Corp.
6
6
6
5
5.75
Eric Ch
Eric Ch CEO at Still Young
6
6
7
6
6.25
Peng You
Peng You Co-founder and CEO at Benwu Studio
5
5
5.5
5
5.13
Gijs Baks
Gijs Baks Founder at Space Encounters
Feels like a capsule in a spaceship...
6.5
7
7.5
5
6.5
Marta Nunez Anton
Marta Nunez Anton Associate Interior Designer at AECOM @ ID+S
Lets say that the explanation left...
6
5
7
5
5.75
Kajsa Krause
Kajsa Krause Design Principal at Champalimaud Design
6
6
6
5
5.75
Thomas Danet
Thomas Danet Design Director at Jones Lang LaSalle
The daring concept was calling for...
6
6.5
6
5.5
6
Nicky Drobis
Nicky Drobis Partner at Fender Katsalidis
6
7
5.5
5
5.88
Huang	Jianfeng
Huang Jianfeng Founder and Creative Director at ONE-CU Interior Design Lab
6
6.5
6
5.5
6
Ying Sun
Ying Sun Senior Interior Architect at Spotify
5
6
7
5
5.75
Matt Parry
Matt Parry CEO at The Future Collective
7
7.5
6
4.5
6.25
Marianne Stroyeva
Marianne Stroyeva Senior Retail Design Manager at adidas
I'm afraid I disagree with the enti...
3
5
4
3
3.75
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.