Sustainable Ideas from Autumn 2024’s Maison & Objet Design Fair
Explore some of the exciting new materials made of everything from crushed apples to old police uniforms
For a number of years, the biannual Maison & Objet show for interior decoration, design and lifestyle has highlighted the latest eco materials and the finished products they’ve inspired. The autumn 2024 show, which took place from 5-9 September, was no exception, sending a clearer message than ever: ecology and sustainability are at the heart of design, and exciting solutions are on the rise.
We took a closer look at the innovations shaping the future through sustainable, cutting-edge design.
We took a closer look at the innovations shaping the future through sustainable, cutting-edge design.
Adaozañ, a material made from crushed apples. Photo by Anne-Emmanuelle Thion.
Upcycling This term, which is more specific than generic recycling, refers to transforming waste into a better-quality product with higher value or better features than the original material. This is the mission of many French companies:
Upcycling This term, which is more specific than generic recycling, refers to transforming waste into a better-quality product with higher value or better features than the original material. This is the mission of many French companies:
- Adaozañ (meaning “recycle” or “enhance” in Breton) is a brand based in Quimperlé, Brittany and created by designer Youenn Le Pocréau and joiner Guillaume Bournigal. Its mission is to convert apple pomace from cider pressing into a material by drying and then compressing it without binding agents. It can then be used to create sustainable objects and wall cladding.
- Compo’plume, founded by Benjamin Moreau in Remouillé in Loire-Atlantique, southern Brittany, transforms badminton shuttlecocks into ground material and bonds it with resin to produce 3 x 1.1m boards, which are perfect for kitchen worktops and splashbacks.
Les Matériaux Urbains lamps made from coffee grounds. Photo by Anne-Emmanuelle Thion.
- Meanwhile, Parisian company Les Matériaux Urbains, founded by Thibaut Nilles, recycles organic materials such as coffee grounds, oak sawdust, stale breadcrumbs and even clippings from glasses frames into cellulose acetate and paper. These materials are expertly combined to be compressed before further processing with an exogenous binder. The final material is transformed into desk tops, wall cladding, office items, lighting fixtures and door handles.
- Also worth a mention are the felt panels from Pierreplume in Tourcoing, northern France. The wall cladding, with acoustic properties and ranging from 12mm to 24mm in thickness, comes from recycling used textiles, notably police officer and firefighter uniforms.
Malakio’s marine terrazzo. Photo by Anne-Emmanuelle Thion.
The search for new natural and bio-based materials These materials are derived from renewable, mainly bio-based resources, such as plants, animals and microorganisms. Our tour of Eco-materials Corner also included exploring many marine-derived products:
The search for new natural and bio-based materials These materials are derived from renewable, mainly bio-based resources, such as plants, animals and microorganisms. Our tour of Eco-materials Corner also included exploring many marine-derived products:
- Bysco, a Nantes-based label created in 2021 by Robin Maquet and Charline Prod’homme, specialises in manufacturing technical textiles (Byscoplak and Byscoflex) using mussel byssal threads from Cancale Bay in Brittany. They are acoustic, thermal and naturally fireproof (M1 rating). Also known as sea silk, this byssus is the natural fibre produced by mussels to cling to rocks. This raw material, which has a huge mineral deposit (4,500 tonnes according to FranceAgriMer), hasn’t been used until now.
- Ostrea and Malàkio, both in north-western France, presented their creations made from marine terrazzo, a material manufactured with waste products from oyster production and shellfish harvest (scallops and mussels).
Vescom fabrics made from recycled PET bottles. Photo by Anne-Emmanuelle Thion.
New composites Our final innovation discovery was composite materials, with the exploration of new combinations to produce more ethical end products:
New composites Our final innovation discovery was composite materials, with the exploration of new combinations to produce more ethical end products:
- Dutch firm Vescom, which specialises in wall cladding, has developed several industrialised and certified eco-materials that are greener alternatives to traditional vinyl wallpaper. Its new wall cladding on cotton or paper frames is made of olefin and printed with water-based inks.
On top of that, the textiles in it range (pictured) are 100% recycled PET from plastic bottles found in the ocean.
Environmentally friendly stone by Phydiastone. Photo by Anne-Emmanuelle Thion.
- Offering a touching and more artisanal range, Phydiastone founder Seta Zandi creates “synthetic, eco-friendly stones”, which she turns into items on demand. With a PhD in mechanics and rock modelling from Mines ParisTech, Zandi could have devoted her career to finding oil or shale gas, but she left it all behind to launch her business, producing beautiful, handcrafted materials and personalised products for interior designer projects.
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Designer Lionel Jadot at the What’s New? In Hospitality exhibit. Photo by Anne-Emmanuelle Thion.
Atelier Lionel Jadot: “One of the most experimental design collectives in Europe”
In another sign revealing the importance of including more sustainability in design and our homes, this edition of the show was led by Belgian designer Lionel Jadot, who is based in Zaventem near Brussels and was awarded Designer of the Year by Maison & Objet. This title recognises a remarkable career, marked by an inventive and committed approach ever since he began working in the family factory at the age of 18.
Supported by a collective of local designers who are fully on board with this process, Jadot showcased his working methods through scenography entitled What’s New? In Hospitality. His inspiring hotel suite highlighted the use of sustainable materials, recycling and upcycling.
“Each object or material used in this project has already had another life traced back to other projects we’re currently working on in the hospitality sector (the hotel industry and other hospitality venues),” he says.
Atelier Lionel Jadot: “One of the most experimental design collectives in Europe”
In another sign revealing the importance of including more sustainability in design and our homes, this edition of the show was led by Belgian designer Lionel Jadot, who is based in Zaventem near Brussels and was awarded Designer of the Year by Maison & Objet. This title recognises a remarkable career, marked by an inventive and committed approach ever since he began working in the family factory at the age of 18.
Supported by a collective of local designers who are fully on board with this process, Jadot showcased his working methods through scenography entitled What’s New? In Hospitality. His inspiring hotel suite highlighted the use of sustainable materials, recycling and upcycling.
“Each object or material used in this project has already had another life traced back to other projects we’re currently working on in the hospitality sector (the hotel industry and other hospitality venues),” he says.
The What’s New? In Hospitality exhibit. Photo by Anne-Emmanuelle Thion.
Framing the shower area in the hotel suite is a partition designed by Mircea Anghel composed of seven layers of recycled textiles that have been compressed and sanded. The pink wall, meanwhile, is made of a special terrazzo. “Every month, we grind waste from our 30 designers and mix them to produce this material. It has sort of become our trademark,” he says.
Framing the shower area in the hotel suite is a partition designed by Mircea Anghel composed of seven layers of recycled textiles that have been compressed and sanded. The pink wall, meanwhile, is made of a special terrazzo. “Every month, we grind waste from our 30 designers and mix them to produce this material. It has sort of become our trademark,” he says.
The What’s New? In Hospitality exhibit. Photo by Anne-Emmanuelle Thion.
This bench was made by Jadot using collected bitumen from roadworks. The cushion comes from army surplus, and the wall is made of papier-mâché from Papier Boulettes.
This bench was made by Jadot using collected bitumen from roadworks. The cushion comes from army surplus, and the wall is made of papier-mâché from Papier Boulettes.
- Elsewhere, we came across a headboard made with salt by Roxane Lahidji, and an eye-catching mushroom mycelium table from Bento Architecture.
The Ombak chair made from recycled river plastic, Sungai Design. Photo by Anne-Emmanuelle Thion
Future on Stage: a springboard for young and remarkable enterprises
Future on Stage: a springboard for young and remarkable enterprises
- Another source of inspiration is Sungai Design, a French family-owned company based in Bali. The brother and sister duo decided to fight against plastic pollution on the paradise island, where there are no local rubbish collection services and waste floods the rivers. Once collected, the used plastic is made into sturdy and elegant furniture.
Their leading product, the Ombak chair, handmade using 28kg-30kg of recycled plastic, has been a runaway success, allowing them to improve financing for their clean-up and advocacy work.
Sungai Design is also working on new projects, including a stool, and collaborations with other designers, while aiming to achieve more industrialised production.
Bath, Konqrit. Photo by Anne-Emmanuelle Thion.
- Also noteworthy is the highly reasoned creative process of Konqrit, a new Argentine artisanal brand launched in April 2023 by designer Cecilia Garcia Galofre. It offers washbasins and bath made of glass fibre-reinforced concrete (GFRC).
The long and delicate process was optimised to minimise environmental impact: less waste, lower energy costs, certified additives, priority for green labels and reusable cardboard and wood packaging to foster a sustainable life cycle.
What’s more, Konqrit contributes to the regeneration of indigenous forests in Patagonia through NGO Forestarg to reduce its carbon footprint.
Maple office desk by Gimmic. Photo by Anne-Emmanuelle Thion.
More nature-friendly brand picks from the fair
The show floor also exhibited some hidden gems. Here are the must-know brands creating more sustainable products:
More nature-friendly brand picks from the fair
The show floor also exhibited some hidden gems. Here are the must-know brands creating more sustainable products:
- Gimmic Design, a social and solidarity-based company in Bordeaux founded by Bastien Carretier and Nathalie Giraud to produce high-quality (and fairly priced) furniture from industrial waste. The team’s maple wood office desk has the curved shape of its feet, which are used cardboard tubes.
With their own workshops, the company can adapt the furniture to your needs and even provides a deposit scheme. “We wanted to change the way we look at furniture consumption, which is the third largest waste category in France. That is the premise of the deposit. If the furniture gets damaged, we’ll take it back to transform or repair it,” Giraud says.
100% recycled HDPE chair made from used canoes. Photo by The Fab Unit.
- La Fab Unit is a business from Drôme, south-eastern France, that gives recycled plastic a new lease of life by manufacturing eco-friendly furniture. Spotted at the fair was the Ceci est un Canoë chair by designer Thomas Merlin, an outdoor seat made from recycled canoes. Other products, chairs and tables are crafted entirely locally, like works of art that reflect on circularity.
Brewer’s spent grain, a residue from beer production, offers a palette of natural colours. Photo by Instead.
- The four founders of Instead in Nantes jokingly call themselves “brewers of furniture”. Using cereal residues from beer brewing (brewer’s spent grain), the manufacturer designs furniture that’s environmentally responsible and made in France.
The material, which had never previously been upcycled, is compressed with rubbish from corn starch food waste bags – a binding agent that’s also 100% natural. The resulting collection features stylish furniture, bar tables, stools and chairs. Extraordinary and eco-friendly.
The Beluga chair by Polimair, a company whose mission is to produce high-quality recycled furniture.
- Polimair is a brand-new French label exhibiting at Maison & Objet for the first time. It aims to change mindsets regarding plastic by creating high-quality recycled furniture.
The business’s range includes flat-pack chairs made in France entirely from recycled mono-material. Using a single material makes recycling easier and quicker, avoiding any hassle along the recycling chain.
Offered as flat-pack pieces, the chairs are very easy to repair by replacing the damaged part, ensuring a lifetime warranty.
Cosmic Nap scenography. Photo by Les Résilientes by Emmaüs Alternatives.
Waste from Maison & Objet recycled
Let’s end this tour of the fair’s sustainable initiatives by appreciating the Cosmic Nap scenography from the Les Résilientes project by Emmaüs Alternatives, a design and vocational integration studio. On display in Hall 1, this exhibit was created entirely from reused materials from the previous editions of the trade show.
Launched in January 2017, the goal of this design studio is to craft collections of objects from reserves of materials that are donated to the association and cannot be sold or redistributed in their current state.
Waste from Maison & Objet recycled
Let’s end this tour of the fair’s sustainable initiatives by appreciating the Cosmic Nap scenography from the Les Résilientes project by Emmaüs Alternatives, a design and vocational integration studio. On display in Hall 1, this exhibit was created entirely from reused materials from the previous editions of the trade show.
Launched in January 2017, the goal of this design studio is to craft collections of objects from reserves of materials that are donated to the association and cannot be sold or redistributed in their current state.
Ella chair and bistro table by Instead.
To sum up, these innovative companies demonstrate that sustainability is not so much a luxury as a necessity. By committing to local production, recycling and upcycling, they prove – to paraphrase 18th century chemist Lavoisier – “Nothing is lost … everything is transformed.”
Tell us…
Did you visit the Maison & Objet fair? Share your thoughts on the various sustainable materials in the Comments.
To sum up, these innovative companies demonstrate that sustainability is not so much a luxury as a necessity. By committing to local production, recycling and upcycling, they prove – to paraphrase 18th century chemist Lavoisier – “Nothing is lost … everything is transformed.”
Tell us…
Did you visit the Maison & Objet fair? Share your thoughts on the various sustainable materials in the Comments.
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Eco-materials Corner: A first that left a lasting impression
Eco-materials Corner made its debut at the Maison & Objet fair, proving that sustainable design is thriving. This space, dedicated to promoting the use of sustainable and eco-friendly materials in decoration and design, was a huge success. It presented nine initiatives from designers and manufacturers committed to using sustainable materials and reducing the environmental impact of their products. We spotted several areas of innovation.