Buenos Aires' Very Own Sustainable Design Exhibition
by Paula Alvarado, Buenos Aires on 11.13.06
(Opening picture, from La Nacion newspaper) From November 9th and until today, Buenos Aires had its first exhibition with a focus on eco, social and sustainable design. It was inside Design Connection, an annual exposition on avant-garde design. Though the products that focused on recovered materials were mixed up with regular ones and didn't have enough clear specifications about the materials, the show served as a great introduction for general people to the theme of recycled and social design (it even had a stand from the government with flyers that explained how to separate and recover garbage). We also found out that in the frame of this exhibition was the official launch of ReMade Argentina: this country's own version of the Italian organization that promotes design from recycled materials (ReMade in Italy). In terms of products, we could count as a plus that the exhibition had some foreign eco-designers from Brazil, England and Italy -mainly the products from the ReMade in Italy catalogue-; but we point as a minus the fact that there weren't any products on sale. However, we were glad to find some of our previously featured designers showing their stuff, like Oficina Nomade, Gueto, the Cempre Award Winners, Mu, Vacavaliente and the winners of the Easy Homecenter contest; and also some interesting ideas from new players. Check them out in the extended (if you're in Buenos Aires, it's open until 9pm at the Buenos Aires Design Auditorium, between streets Pueyrredon and Libertador, Recoleta). ::Design Connection
Our findings:
Perfectos Dragones' flowerpots and lamps from melted plastic straps (they also have purses and other accessories that weren't at the show).
Arqom's Simoa bench. Made from sustainable eucalyptus wood.
Designo's Puzzle Table. Covered with wood scraps from old Patagonian constructions.
Cristian Mohaded's Bois bench. Made entirely from different kinds of wood scraps, recovered in sawmills) he doesn't have a website but can be contacted by mail (if anyone's interested, please write a comment and I'll send it).
Federico Churba and Patricio Lixklett's plastic wickerwork. Though this is not from recovered materials, we thought it was interesting to show how these designers have re-designed wickerwork. If these were from recovered/recycled plastic strings, it would be perfect.
thank goodness argentian is starting pay attention to green practices. The argentine government has been resistant to environmental practices of every kind and pollution in this wonderful country is rampant, sometime outrageously so.
Large scale pollution from industrial processes is commonplace and control of things like PCBs are unheard of. Even DDT is still in common use.
There are few constraints against pollution in general and the only action has happened in the face of massive public protest, like last spring when there were large demonstrations against argentina's dumping of raw sewerage which was ruining beaches in Uraguay. Now that argentina's economy is largely recovered maybe there will be a reasonable amount of attention paid to the environment.
I am interested in Cristian Mohano's Bois bench. Can you please send me the email contact.