Thesis project at Politecnico di Milano
A project born from the waste of the furniture Industry, the “Piega” armchair was designed in collaboration with Cassina and gives leather scrap a second chance.
“Piega” means “fold” in italian which references the way the armchair is constructed.
Inspiration:
From a visit at Cassina’s production facility, I noticed heaps of leather scraps to be thrown out and thought they could be reused to make newfound value.
What followed was a lenghty experimentation process, of mixing leather with PU resin in different ways to find the best combination, structure and preferred aesthetic.
Once I realised the properties of the material system I developed, I found that a good structural olution was to fold the leather in an origami-type way.
Final design:
Entirely made from leathter scraps and PU resin only, the projects challenge also laid in pushing these materials to their structural limits, while giving them a new poetic meaning rarely attributed.
Production process:
The project allows plenty of freedom, from shape, to colour, to pattern. Vastly different results can be achieved with an element of randomness, from playful to elegant. The production process allows for a product system bound by the composite material, capable of arching over different product categories.
This project was designed from the ground up to be versatile and give maximum value to leather scrap, a reflection on reuse instead of waste.
