This morning we touted Chris Burton’s Repose Lounge as an example of his “upcycled” furniture, made from a variety of construction site waste and other miscellaneous dumpster detritus. His equally-ingenious Yield shelves provide a modular shelving system based on the order of an equilateral triangle. Yield’s various vessels are made from plywood, various wooden off-cuts, and even drywall, giving a unique texture and tactility to each unit. The Yield system was featured, along with the Repose Lounge, as part of Burton’s recent student exhibition at Savannah’s Red Kite Studio gallery.
I’m not sure this qualifies as “upcycling”. This is a creative and beautiful re-use of material, but upcycling talks about being able to process a material again into a new form, typically without degrading the material or making the pieces smaller. So re-cyclig or upcycling a plastic (for example) should mean the quality of the plastic remains the same or is improved, or that the bottle (or bench or whatever) can degrade without adverse effect.
In the shelving, the pieces are further cut to size, leaving scrap – granted less scrap than if these cool shelves weren’t made, but you get the idea.
However, bravo for beautiful re-use!
Thanks Jodi for the comment. True that this is not the McDonough definition of “Upcycle,” throughout my research of construction and demolition debris I found the almost all of the material that was being recycled, was being “downcycled” and turned into animal bedding, mulch and other by-products. Thanks you again for the comments. Suggestions are always welcomed!
I like your furniture and this “shelving”. Let’s see you do an entire wall or more like this!
[...] Yield Shelves by Chris Burton Upcycled using reclaimed wood from construction dump sites Spotted at Inhabitat Fabulously Green reports on the latest eco-friendly products that blend style, sustainability [...]