These plastic window shutters by Kulla Industrial Design can still be used to sit on.
Finding new uses for old wooden window shutters has been a standard upcycling move among sustainable designers for years (check out the wooden shutter chairs made by Tel Aviv’s Junktion Studio). Wooden shutters have been turned into tables, doors, and even works of art in their own right. But plastic window shutters – the kind that adorn way too many windows in Israel – have been relatively untouched. Since these shutters had untapped potential, the duo over at Kulla Industrial Design (the sustainable design team that makes sawdust and plastic bag lamps) decided to find new ways to use them.
Called the ‘Tris Collection’ (tris means “shutter” in Hebrew), Kulla’s window shutter upcycling has produced a stool, chair, divider curtain, and wall mount for storing CDs.
Taken out of their sun-blocking context, the plastic window shutters are surprisingly beautiful and have a minimalist (almost even Japanese) aesthetic.
They are practical, too, since they are easily cleaned with a moist cloth.
Not only are the pieces in the ‘Tris Collection’ great to look at, but they save these plastic shutters from ending up in a landfill. As there is no recycling solution for these shutters, they could not be recycled into anything else – they must be upcycled or thrown out.
One of the designs in the ‘Tris Collection’ – the divider curtain pictured above – plays on the context of the source material. Plastic pieces that once served as window shutters are now being transformed into curtains, another type of sun-blocking (albeit less opaque) device.
Read more about sustainable furniture design:
Tel Aviv’s Junktion Studion Keeps Inspiring Us to Rethink Our Junk
Paper Carton Furniture Is No Pulp Fiction
Interview with MiKlum, Designers of Furniture Out of Nothing
Author: Karen Chernick
Much to the disappointment of her Moroccan grandmother, Karen became a vegetarian at the age of seven because of a heartfelt respect for other forms of life. She also began her journey to understand her surroundings and her impact on the environment. She even starting an elementary school Ecology Club and an environmental newsletter in the 3rd grade. (The proceeds of the newsletter went to non-profit environmental organizations, of course.) She now studies in New York. Karen can be reached at karen (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
