3D-PRINTED CHAIRS FROM RECYCLED FISHING NETS
Every year thousands of fishing nets are discarded into the depths of the Baltic Sea and the surrounding bodies of water. These ghost nets continue to cause death and destruction for fish and sea life for decades afterwards. What if these nets would become a valuable resource and not end up in the ocean in the first place? Innovators around the world are grappling with ways to turn damaging discarded nets into something useful and beautiful.
The latest attempt comes from Swedish conceptual design company Interesting Times Gang (ITG), which recently debuted its Kelp Collection line of furniture. Interesting Times Gang introduces a vision of what can be achieved with large-scale 3D-printed furniture made of recycled fishing nets. Each piece can be ground down into base materials for reuse many times.
Interesting Times Gang used a material that combines recycled fishing nets with wood fiber, to create 3D-printed designs that can stay within the same material ecosystem once they reach the end of their life-cycle. These objects can be ground down to create new bio-materials that can be reused again and again, to create entirely new objects within a closed design loop.
The chairs are designed to imitate the curvature and wavy look of kelp moving below water. A process made possible by the latest advances in 3D-printing technology and material development. Created for a new sushi restaurant in Stockholm, the furniture line will be available publicly late in 2022.
