Awakening minds to the value of waste. Exploring the ever-changing narrative of textile resources. Investigating the challenges and opportunities of the shift to a circular economy where end-of-life becomes the start of new life.

Curated by Jane Withers and Njusja de Gier, Really’s second exhibition at Milan’s Salone del Mobile 2018 comprised compelling works by designers from Europe, the United States and Japan. Seeking a balance between the real and the intangible, the designs demonstrated the characteristics and possibilities of Really’s Textile Board and Textile Felt, which are made from upcycled, end-of-life textiles.

The designers invited by Kvadrat and Really all took a distinctive approach to work with Textile Board and Textile Felt.
They are Benjamin Hubert | LAYER, Christien Meindertsma, Claesson Koivisto Rune, Front, Jo Nagasaka, Jonathan Olivares and Raw-Edges Design Studio.

Ultimately, all the works, in their own individual way, showcase beautiful things can be made out of waste. In doing so, they help to shift perception around a defining challenge of our times: how to manage the issue of global waste and successfully transition from a linear to a circular economy.

“It is exciting to see how notable designers are applying Really’s first materials to furniture and interiors and also engaging with the narrative and challenges of a circular economy, and the urgent need to design out waste.”
Anders Byriel - CEO Kvadrat

Benjamin Hubert LAYER, Shift

Elegantly engineered without screws or bolts, Shift is a modular, flexible display and storage system for retail use. In its ‘still’ position, Shift is a flat acoustic wall panel. From this static state, elements fold open to serve as display shelves and storage. 

Claesson Koivisto Rune, Bibliothèque

Claesson Koivisto Rune used studies of architectural grids and mid-century skyscrapers as a departure point for Bibliothèque - a freestanding shelving system constructed from slender, rigid sheets of Really Solid Textile. Like a city skyscraper, Bibliothèque is a freestanding element that interacts in space rather than becoming part of a wall. It is produced by ASPLUND.

Christien Meindertsma, Acoustic Fur

Acoustic Fur is composed of strings of Acoustic Felt of varying lengths that can be stuck to magnetic wallpaper allowing the user to easily create free-form compositions.  As the hanging grows in density, its acoustic effect increases. Once the magnets are removed, the strings can be shredded into Really granulate and reimagined as new products.

Raw-Edges Design Studio, Fine Cut

Raw Edges took the design of Solid Textile Board Cotton Blue - a blue board composed of a white cotton core sandwiched between outer layers of indigo cotton - as the starting point for their design. The table and wall console are made by laminating together several layers of Solid Textile Board and ‘engraving’ to expose the material layers beneath the surface.

Front, Textile Cupboard

The wavy sculptural form of Front’s Textile Cupboard was inspired by the designers’ wish to express Solid Textile Board’s textile origins and create the illusion of soft, flowing textile. The cabinet’s floating form references the drape of a curtain or the way a cloth hangs over a table, giving form to the object beneath but also disguising it.

Jo Nagasaka, Colour Studies

Taking a simple geometric chair as a canvas for his experiments, Jo Nagasaka explored processes such as colouring, sanding, brushing and bleaching to create surface finishes that express the character of each of four Solid Textile Boards - and their different textile origins. In doing so, he aimed to reveal these differences through the textures created by the material itself.

Jonathan Olivares, Solid Textile Screen

Solid Textile Screen continues the sequence of spatial partitions by Alvar Aalto (Screen 100, 1935) and Charles and Ray Eames (Plywood Folding Screen, 1946). It is made from panels of Solid Textile Board joined by zipped textile hinges that allow for the screen to be extended and shaped into different positions. All the components, apart from the zipper, are made from recyclable textile.