Innovative paper products designed according to circular design principles
Ljubljana, 12 June 2019 – The exhibition Papiro-logía – Circular Design and the Use of Paper in Interior Design opened today in the right-hand atrium of Ljubljana Town Hall. The exhibition presents twelve projects by master’s students of industrial design that illustrate ways of using paper in interior design while following the principles of circular design and offer specific examples of how to develop effective solutions for the transition to a circular economy. The exhibition will remain open until 16 June 2019. Admission is free.
Exhibits include innovative paper products such as Hive – a modular paper lighting system that through thoughtful design refutes the assumption of a temporary product made from a seemingly perishable material; Sensory Dome – which adapts to the needs of children with sensory integration disorder and offers them an opportunity for quality learning, development and play; Zoobox – a construction toy that stimulates the development of motor skills, strengthens spatial orientation and stimulates the imagination; Polygami – play equipment that stimulates children’s creativity, develops their spatial perception and motor skills and allows them to explore and create their own imaginative space; Paper + Bioplastic – a project based on discovering and generating new (as yet unexploited) potentials of non-recyclable paper; Chair – a chair made from newspaper that offers practical proof that recycled newspaper is a structurally and aesthetically suitable material for making furniture; User-friendly and environmentally friendly polling station equipment, that supplies an answer in the form of an improved version of existing polling station equipment; Šiva – a partition wall that allows the flexible modular construction of acoustically isolated spaces, suitable above all for addressing the problem of concentration loss in inadequately designed open spaces; Val/Wall – a modular system of elements for sound control in open or deteriorated spaces; Senta and Sipha – folding partition walls designed to facilitate more efficient work and greater employee satisfaction in open offices; Papertry – a product designed to help people give up smoking; Destructive Play – a game that allows children to work off tension and explore the boundaries of their own strength and the transformative potential of aggression in an environmentally acceptable manner.
The entire process of design of the exhibited products is based on the established methods of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the world’s leading authority on the circular economy, which highlights design as one of the most important elements in the transition to a circular economy.
The exhibition is promoted and financially supported by the Regional Development Agency of the Ljubljana Urban Region (RRA LUR), which is intensively focusing its activities on the promotion of economically efficient and environmentally friendly development and places great importance on circular design as one of the key foundations of a circular economy. The products presented in the exhibition show that innovative design and cross-sectoral cooperation can bring many green opportunities to the region, which RRA LUR will continue to build on and expand in the future, at both the regional and national levels. The Ljubljana Urban Region is also one of the first regions to obtain guidelines and recommendations from the European Union for the transition from a linear to a circular economy.
Lucija Močnik Ramovš, the Dean of the Academy of Fine Arts and Design of the University of Ljubljana (ALUO UL) described the exhibition as another excellent example of the commitment of students and teachers of the Department of Industrial and Unique Design to promoting and establishing sustainable practices. This mission is also breaking into the international arena, since they are also the creators of the concept “Thinking the Conditions of Our Time”, which Slovenia is presenting at this year’s Milan Triennial.
Visit Papiro-logía – Krožno oblikovanje in uporaba papirja v interierju to view a publication which, like the printed materials for the exhibition, is printed on paper made from non-native invasive plant species (Acacia and Japanese knotweed). The paper was developed, manufactured and donated by the Pulp and Paper Institute in Ljubljana, which also offers students expert support in product development through a partnership arrangement. Leading European packaging company DS-Smith likewise provided know-how and materials for the exhibited products and helped manufacture them.
A printed version of the publication will be available in branches of Ljubljana City Library and the National and University Library. It contains detailed descriptions of the processes of development and creation of all the works in the exhibition through the principles of circular design.
More information: Tina Pezdirc Nograšek, tina.pezdirc@rralur.si and Urša Peršič, ursa.persic@rralur.si, Tel.: +386 (0)1 306 19 21
The project was financially supported by the EU framework programme for research and innovation Horizon 2020 (H2020 WIDESPREAD-2-Teaming; #739574) and investment financing of the Republic of Slovenia and the European Union from the European Regional Development Fund, as part of the InnoRenew CoE project
