After furniture was at the end of its life, it used to end up in landfill. But nowadays more and more people and companies have found ways to recycle, reuse or upcycle furniture before it ends up there. They sort discarded furniture into fabric, steel, wood and several other parts and materials that can be reused. And of course there are creative people who notice this old and abandoned furniture and see possibilities to upcycle it into new furniture or completely other products. A few inspiring examples are 3rd Gen Furniture, Grace Coffee Table and Both Matters.

Abandoned wood becomes centerpiece

Creation ‘Both Matters’ has some similarities to today’s design. They are both about discarded furniture and creations by Israeli designers living in Tel Aviv. The upcycle design featured today is called Matter of Motion. A creation by Maor Aharon, founder of Maor Aharon Studio.

Matter of Motion is a series of stools specifically designed for The Center for Environmental Education in Hiriya, a recycling park in Israel’s Central District, not far from Tel Aviv.

The Center for Environmental Education is Israel’s largest educational center on the subject of waste and recycling. The Center was founded by ‘Dan Municipal Sanitation Association‘ out of an understanding that in addition to promoting innovative technology, it is necessary to act in the field of environmental education and Community advocacy.

Maor Aharon’s project incorporates sustainable values such as the use of low-energy semi industrial construction techniques, using strong and durable composite materials (resin, mineral powder, natural pigments) that can be easily repaired if scratched and being a one-man production line that reuses all production waste. This environmentally conscious approach stands for values shared and endorsed by the Center.

In the streets of Tel Aviv you can find lots of abandoned wooden furniture that probably would have found its way to Hiriya for sorting and later to landfills in southern Israel.


Maor Aharon:

“I recognized this as an opportunity and for two months brought dozens of pieces of old wooden furniture from the streets to the studio where they were repurposed as stool legs. The wooden parts have been minimally refinished in order to preserve the memory of their original form.”

Matter of Motion is a collection of twenty stools where each stool has a unique graphic finishing in vivid colours and are numbered and signed.

Photos © Maor Aharon

I’m glad to have stumbled upon this project because it shows again what one can do with old furniture parts. An object like a table leg that’s seemingly uninteresting, suddenly becomes the centerpiece of upcycle design.

Design by Maor Aharon | Facebook