Transformations: RISD Students Recycle Everyday Objects Into Incredible New Designs for Salone Milan

Nine furniture design students from the prestigious <a href="http://www.risd.edu/Home.aspx">Rhode Island School of Design</a> will be challenging emotions and preconceptions at the <a href="http://inhabitat.com/milan-furniture-fair/">Milan Furniture Fair</a> next week with works that transform <a href="http://inhabitat.com/index.php?s=everyday+objects">everyday objects</a> into thoughtful new designs with unexpected uses. The projects range from stools made from repurposed syringes to <a href="http://inhabitat.com/index.php?s=stiletto+shoes">stiletto shoes</a> made from acrylic nails, sensuous light fixtures made from venetian blinds, and even a dress made from surgical face masks - read on for a sneak peek!

Iliahi Anthony's 'Infectious Cocktail Dress' uses clinical <a href="http://inhabitat.com/bio-accessories-let-you-wear-nature-on-your-face/">facemasks</a> in a completely new way that challenges our preconceptions. Facemasks are normally associated with sterile environments, but their pleated design adds a lovely texture to this clever little number.

<a href="http://www.annafulton.com/">Anna Fulton</a>'s nail-biting stiletto shoe blurs the line between the worlds of <a href="http://inhabitat.com/index.php?s=high-fashion">high-fashion</a> and low-end beauty products. The impressive seven-inch-high 'Mira Platform Stiletto' has an upper-casing made out of layered and painted artificial acrylic nails, as well as some sticking out from its cast surface.

<a href="http://cargocollective.com/katiestout">Katie Stout</a>'s 'Tray Table' playfully questions the inherent characteristics of utilitarian objects by referencing Victorian ornamental aesthetics while exploring the relationship between function and context. The curvilinear <a href="http://inhabitat.com/index.php?s=cutout">cutouts</a> in the removable trays makes the individual trays unusable and instead refines them into a decorative and useful piece of <a href="http://inhabitat.com/index.php?s=furniture">furniture</a> for the home.

Kristin Ross merges chance with calculated repetitiveness in her 'Snake Eye Vessel', which is made from hundreds of yellow dice adhered side by side into sheets with the number one dot facing outwards. As light passes through the transparent material the patterns of the dots and <a href="http://inhabitat.com/pixelated-cube-tube-is-and-airy-bright-office-restaurant-in-china/">cubes</a> are illuminated, creating a <a href="http://inhabitat.com/formafantasma-crafty-vessels-are-made-from-flour-agricultural-waste-and-limestone/">vessel</a> with a multi-faceted story for us to discover.

<a href="http://mckenzie-veal.com/">Taylor McKenzie Veal</a>'s project 'This Little Piggy' uses a low-tech variant of a high-tech manufacturing process to give new value to discarded beverage <a href="http://inhabitat.com/index.php?s=plastic+bottles">bottles</a>. By using a simple oven, an air compressor and a plywood mold she transforms old bottles into cute and functional <a href="http://inhabitat.com/bergdorf-a-lovable-piggy-bank-made-of-recyclable-paper-pulp/">piggy banks</a>!

<a href="http://scotbailey.com/">Scot Bailey</a>'s elegant 'Cup Light' repurposes plastic cups as a lamp shade, allowing us see these disposable items in a whole new <a href="http://inhabitat.com/index.php?s=lighting">light</a>. The user is invited to interact with the light, as the cups functions as physical dimmers.

The 'Terra Light' by <a href="http://tysonatwell.com/">Tyson Atwell</a> is an impressive <a href="http://inhabitat.com/bulbous-handmade-paper-lamps-by-paula-arntzen-hang-like-glowing-sculptures/">sculptural light</a> made from 190 orange-red glowing&nbsp;terra cotta flowerpots arranged in a repetitive pattern. The iconic <a href="http://inhabitat.com/index.php?s=terracotta">terra cotta</a> pots are attached to the perimeter of a white powder-coated sheet metal frame by their existing drain holes. An interior light source illuminates both the inside and outside of each pot while casting gorgeous shadows on the lamp's surroundings.

<a href="http://ianstell.com/">Ian Stell</a>'s 'Blind Light' transforms traditional venetian blinds into a sensuous and sculptural light. When twisted and draped, the blinds go from a two-dimensional rectilinear form to a three-dimensional object with a completely new function and expression.