Dezeen teamed up with Carl Hansen & Søn to host and movie a dialogue on product design for a round financial system on the Danish model's Manhattan showroom throughout NYCxDesign 2024.
Moderated by Dezeen US editor Ben Dreith, the dialogue explored matters akin to using reclaimed supplies in furnishings design, adaptive reuse and the influence of latest company sustainability guidelines.
Titled Crafting a Round Future, the panel featured Carl Hansen & Søn head of product improvement Mads Holm Rabjerg, Rarify co-founder David Rosenwasser and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) sustainability chief Sigal Shemesh.
The panel mentioned how circularity performs a task of their respective corporations and the way right this moment's designers can create a extra round financial system.
Shemesh defined that SOM has a “purple checklist” of elements that can not be used when working with shoppers to realize sustainability objectives.
In accordance with Shemesh, it's vital to have a dialog with producers prematurely to eradicate any chemical compounds of concern throughout the manufacturing course of.
She added that the structure business focuses closely on the environmental influence of the supplies and processes used to construct and erect structural components, however not essentially “what goes on inside our buildings.”
“In case you have a 60-year life cycle of a constructing and you alter your interiors each 10 years, that has a big impact on embodied carbon,” Shemesh mentioned.
“It's an business mindset shift that we have to take — that reclaiming these items of heritage is just not a nasty factor,” she continued, including that New York Metropolis has a “zero waste to landfill” dedication by 2030.
Rabjerg spoke about Danish business requirements, addressing how Carl Hansen & Søn has built-in circularity into the manufacturing of wood furnishings.
In accordance with Rabjerg, the model makes use of virtually each piece of wooden it will get, with the scraps being “reused as gas to supply warmth to our manufacturing space and over 450 native houses” as a part of an area experiment.
“Circularity has at all times been embedded in the way in which we predict,” mentioned Rabjerg, referring to the furnishings model's 115-year historical past.
“We solely put one thing into manufacturing once we see a long life for it. We don't bounce on sure tendencies,” he continued.
Rosenwasser, whose firm Rarify repairs and resells genuine classic furnishings, works with New York Metropolis corporations that full large-scale liquidations of used workplace furnishings to resell the furnishings and cut back pointless waste.
“Authenticity and the truth that architectural companies are specifying real work and never imitations or low-quality items is among the finest methods to make sure that corporations like ours and shoppers are fascinated with giving these items new life,” mentioned Rosenwasser.
He emphasised the significance of training in relation to how US designers and producers can enhance circularity of their manufacturing course of.
“What I simply heard is the meticulous nature of what a heritage producer like Carl Hansen & Søn goes by means of to be design steward,” he mentioned.
“The US client has a large training hole. They don't essentially take into consideration design integrity and long-term worth,” Rosenwasser continued.
“With extra training, hopefully, we may also help enhance the thought of circularity,” he mentioned, including that it might be “fascinating” if corporations have been penalized for unhealthy waste practices.
Based in 1908, Carl Hansen & Søn is among the largest mid-century Danish furnishings producers on the earth.
The furnishings model will exhibit new lighting and furnishings launches by Børge Mogensen, Kaare Klint, Rikke Frost, Vilhelm Lauritzen and Henning Koppel at three Days of Design in Copenhagen from 12-14 June 2024, because it celebrates the – the 110th birthday of Hans J. Wegner.
Pictures courtesy of Carl Hansen & Søn. Images is by Sara Pettinella.
Partnership Content material
This video was produced by Dezeen as a part of a partnership with Carl Hansen & Søn. Discover out extra about Dezeen accomplice content material right here.