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Dark neutral chair in between windows

Conscious chair by Mater Design

Dezeen Showroom: furniture brand Mater Design has rereleased a chair from the 1950s with elements made from recycled plastic combined with coffee bean shells or sawdust.

The Conscious chair was originally created by Danish furniture designers and architects Børge Mogensen and Esben Klint in 1958 and has a simple silhouette characterised by a curved wooden seat.

Neutral coloured chair in front of window
Conscious was originally designed for use in Danish schools in the 1950s

Conscious takes this iconic piece of Danish design and brings it up-to-date by making the back and seat from Matek – Mater Design's material made from either post-consumer or post-industrial waste.

"Coffee bean shells, extracted during the roasting process, are an example of fibre material – sawdust from wood production is another," said Mater Design. "The binder material is made from plastic waste or a plastic-based alternative. "

Detail of timber frame and composite material chair elements
The chair has both wooden and recycled composite material elements

"[Matek] enables us to make furniture from waste materials by combining fibre with a binder," said the company. "The technology behind Matek allows us to capture carbon in our furniture by recycling waste into timeless classics using resources already available to us, instead of virgin materials."

The chairs are available with oak wood frames in green, black-stained or natural finishes, and the seats and back come in wood waste grey as well as coffee waste light and black.

Also included in the Conscious collection is a matching table made from oak.

Product: Conscious chair
Designer: Børge Mogensen and Esben Klint
Brand: Mater Design
Contact: [email protected]

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