7 Designers Exhibit Recycled Aluminum Objects in 100R

Milan Design Week 2024 visitors who stopped by the 100R exhibition had the chance to see how aluminum scrap can be turned into coveted design objects that are ready for mass production. Norwegian aluminum and renewable energy company Hydro is changing the game when it comes to the endlessly recyclable material with Hydro CIRCAL 100R, the first industrial-scale aluminum product made entirely of post-consumer scrap. In celebration of the technology and to showcase its vast capabilities, Hydro and Norwegian designer Lars Beller Fjetland brought together seven renowned designers to create objects using only Hydro CIRCAL 100R.

Inga Sempé, Max Lamb, Andreas Engesvik, Shane Schneck, Rachel Griffin, John Tree, and Philippe Malouin were challenged to use the mono-material, each chosen to participate based on their skill sets and personalities. Hydro CIRCAL 100R has an amazingly low carbon footprint that clocks in below 0.5 kg CO2e per kg aluminum, and this project can serve as proof that designers and brands need to consider the use of more highly sustainable materials like this.

“Innovation starts at the drawing board, so collaborating with designers at the beginning of the process is key to creating something remarkable,” says Asle Forsbak, 100R project lead and Marketing & Communication Director at Hydro Extrusions. “Working with Lars and this group of world-class designers, with their uncompromised ideas, is something out of the ordinary, and shows what we can achieve. When designers, engineers, and material specialists unite, innovation happens.”

The seven designers tackled the challenge head-on, using thoughtful designs alongside smart production techniques and processes. Forsbak shares that it was liberating to give them so much freedom and to see how Hydro’s engineers could help bring their ideas to a place where they could be mass-produced at the drop of a dime. From a colorful, metallic table lamp to a space divider kissed with a gradient of blue, the exhibition shares just a taste of what this new material is capable of creating.

“With this project, we acknowledge that we are moving toward a future where utilizing materials already in circulation is imperative for sustainable living and manufacturing,” says Fjetland. “Hydro CIRCAL 100R precisely facilitates that, as aluminum can be endlessly recycled without any loss of quality. I am confident that we will continue to use this exact material a hundred years from now.”

To learn more about Hydro’s 100R exhibition, visit 100r.no.

Photography by Einar Aslaksen.