Duncan Riches interviews Ella Doran, Andrea and Patrizia of Urban Upholstery, and Sophie Thomas about their new chair ‘Clean Up Plastic Camo’ launching during Shoreditch Design Triangle 2020. Discover the story behind the Chair and how they created a new fabric using the negative back-story of plastic pollution with a new message of re-use and hope.
This podcast was recorded live on Monday 14 September 2020.
Urban Upholstery and Ella Doran have promoted and celebrated the circular economy and material re-use and re-design by giving new life to old furniture for over 10 years.
The project started with an abandoned chair from the streets of Hackney. The chair was de-constructed back to its core frame and re-upholstered during Shoreditch Design Triangle 2018 live at The Old Bank Vault art gallery, alongside a group of school children from Shoreditch Park School.
The textile design was born from a further collaboration between Ella and Sophie Thomas. The design depicts waste plastic collected by Sophie from beaches around the world. Together they created artful arrangements of these almost jewel-like pieces. Ella photographed them to then create the textile design, the nature of which is only revealed under close inspection. The fabric tells the negative back-story of plastic pollution with a new message of re-use and hope.
Visit the showroom at Solid Floor during the festival to view the chair in all its splendour.
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