Dezeen Magazine

Watch our talk with Emeco and Emma Olbers on sustainable furniture design live from Stockholm Furniture Fair

Designer Emma Olbers and Emeco CEO Gregg Buchbinder discussed how the furniture industry can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions in this panel discussion at Stockholm Furniture Fair.

Titled End the Excuses and moderated by Swedish architecture writer Mark Isitt, the talk investigated how furniture producers and designers can work together to ensure that their manufacturing processes have minimal impact on the environment.

Designer Emma Olbers and Emeco CEO Gregg Buchbinder
Designer Emma Olbers and Emeco CEO Gregg Buchbinder will discuss sustainable furniture design

Olbers is a Swedish designer, creative director and founder of studio Emma Olbers Design. The sustainability-focussed design practice recently completed a renovation of the library at Stockholm's Nationalmuseum, which featured woven hemp chairs and pine reading tables.

Buchbinder is CEO of American furniture manufacturer Emeco. The company was founded in 1944 with the launch of its best known product, the 1006 Navy Chair, made from salvaged aluminium for US Navy submarines and still in production today.

Dezeen collaborated with Emeco, French illustrator Jean Jullien and his animator brother Nicolas to create an animated film about the brand's designs, including a chair made from recycled plastic bottles and another designed by Philippe Starck formed of a mixture of waste plastic and wood.

Dezeen is media partner for Stockholm Furniture and Light Fair 2020, which takes place at Stockholmmassan in the Swedish capital from 4 to 8 February.

Dezeen broadcasted a number of talks on 4 February, including a lecture by London-based studio Doshi Levien about its design process.

Portraits of Emma Olbers and Gregg Buchbinder courtesy of Emma Olbers Design and Emeco.