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“Welcome to Södra Pulp Labs!
The time has come for you to change your assumptions about paper! Since 2003 the Swedish KTH Royal Institute of Technology and the companies STFI-packforsk and Södra have worked together to create the material DuraPulp, an unbelievably durable paper, which contains paper cellulose and polylactic acid, a natural plastic. Merely two millimetres thick, DuraPulp is resistant to changes in weight, tension, moisture and temperature. The Parapu chair has been created by the Swedish architecture and design studio, Claesson, Koivisto, Rune and the Södra PulpLab research laboratory. This collaborative work, a new paper product, was demonstrated for the first time at Zona Tortona 2009 in Milan.”
The above quote is from the exhibition notes of one of my most interesting discoveries in Milan. This new organic material has been added to the list of “smart materials” for good reason. It was created by mixing cellulose and organic polylactic acids at 167ºC, in this way preserving the lightness of paper and the possibility for complete recycling. By adding plastic, the material gains durability similar to that of wood, hard plastic or even steel, and is appropriate for the manufacture of furniture. There was great interest in the product, and the exhibition space was full of visitors. Manufacturers, scientists and designers should be justifiably proud of their work.
For me, this Swedish exhibition caused emotions which were difficult to express – too many “what ifs”. What if manufacturers, economic developers and export generators in Latvia were truly interested in what our designers are creating and offering? What if they were paying attention to what new creations from Latvia could be brought to the world market? What if we had developed relationships and information exchange between scientists, technology specialists and designers, and the designers confidently and persistently zinged like mosquitoes in the ears of entrepreneurs, until they were heard? Perhaps then Latvia’s name would be celebrated in Milan rather than that of Sweden?
The young designer Indra Merca, the designer of the chair Bio Seat, found out about the Parupu from her colleagues, who photographed at the Södra exhibition. Indra’s comment is short and precise: “The similarities and differences of the design can be debated. The only thing is, if I understand it correctly, that it is also a children’s chair (meaning Kleison, Coivisto, Runne). That is interesting; it means that it has also encountered similar problems”.
Inese Pētersone: How and when did the idea of the BIO SEAT come about?
Indra Merca: The idea came about in October 2007, when working on the studio assignment “Krēsls” (Chair). The first question which had to be answered was: from what material will it be made? Because up until then I had worked with metal and paper. I studied metal design at the Riga Design and Art School, and at the Latvian Academy of Art – only in the second year did I transfer to environmental art.
I remembered that my aunt collects cardboard egg cartons: you can’t really put anything inside them when reusing them, but if you open them out, they stack well on top of one another, they don’t take up much space and they look good. When I had to nominate a material, I said that I would use egg cartons. The first idea was to create the chair from egg trays, using the ready-made principle (see: Dizaina Studija, 2008, Nr. 11, January – February, p. 95). However, in late December I had the feeling that it won’t work. During the winter holidays I tried to recycle the egg cartons. I began with creating simple dishes, until finally in February I took my first experiment to the Academy – a paper mass which had been shaped around a bucket. I was able to convince the lecturers that it would work – that the paper could bear weight.
The rest of the process involved creating the form, in which it was revealed that everything was not quite that easy... I created a child’s chair, because it was too complicated to create a chair for adults working in home conditions. The surface area for an adult chair is larger, therefore it needs extra ribbing. A child’s chair can be made with the help of physically lighter and cheaper moulds. That was also the reason why I chose a child’s chair. My supervisors were associate professors Barbara Ābele and Juris Krūmiņš.
I. P.: What is the material exactly?
I. M.: It is recycled waste paper. Thanks to the SIA “V.L.T” factory and supporters, I collected materials which were considered second-rate, and worked with those.
I. P.: Where did you make the prototype?
I. M.: At home – in Mārupe, in Dad’s garage.
I. P.: Do you have contacts with any manufacturers; has there been any interest from their side? Have you looked for them yourself, a company that could manufacture this kind of children’s furniture?
I. M.: When I decided on using egg cartons, I found the egg packaging factory “V.L.T.”, through Latvia’s “Green Spot” (Zaļais punkts). The people there were very helpful and introduced me to the manufacturing process from the paper recycling to the finished product. Watching the process in this company I understood properly for the first time that the end product is truly “green”. Of course, my aim in making the prototype was towards eventual manufacturing of a product.
After the Stockholm Furniture Fair (Indra’s work was included in the young designers section of the Latvian Academy of Art exhibition at the Stockholm Furniture Fair – I.P) I sent letters to two Swedish and one German product developers and received letters with similar answers – its very expensive to manufacture.
I. P.: What is the current situation – can the chairs be purchased, and if so, in what quantities and at what price?
I. M.: Currently they are a unique design and are not being manufactured. When making them in a home environment, the work invested outweighs the price that the buyer would be willing to pay for a paper chair. When calculating the price of the paper needed for one unit, the cost of producing the product could be around 15 euros per chair (A Södra representative reported that the cost of Parupu will be around 25 euros in retail – I.P.)
I. P.: How did the work get included in Interieur 08 in Kortrijk and what were the results?
I. M.: I ended up in Kortrijk on my own initiative and encouraged by my friends. For a long while there was a poster on the LMA noticeboard about the Kortrijk biennale. I travelled there with the support of the Cultural Capital foundation and my own funds. The chair won the first prize in the PLAYING category.
I. P.: What are your future plans for the BioSeat?
I. M.: The BioSeat is in the process of development. As a result there will be either a product or much “food for thought.”
I. P.: Are you thinking of developing this line to include some other children’s furniture or other objects?
I. M.: I think that the development of this line would be possible, but my main consideration is the fact that I have to remain true to the material, which reflects my “green” thinking which is materialized in “green” design objects.
I. P.: Do you see a perspective, and opportunities for collaboration with Latvian manufacturers: the fact that ecodesign could be a significant direction for our design identity and also an opportunity for export?
I. M.: I can see a future for collaboration with manufacturers. Manufacturing is one thing; the market is a more complex question. To begin to manufacture this product from scratch would be very expensive, and then you would have to have large manufacturing quantities. In turn, by manufacturing small quantities, the cost of the product becomes a lot greater. In the future ecodesign could definitely be a direction for Latvian design, the question is about the society’s readiness and thinking on a wider scale. To develop manufacturing according to “green” requirements we need to make sure the manufacturing process is also green.
I. P.: BIO SEAT is an ecological product – will it participate in the Second Riga Young Designers biennale EKOdizains in October?
I. M.: About the ecology of the product – currently my product is recycled waste paper + PVA glue. When making the product at home, it is the only way to achieve its durability. If the product was manufactured industrially under high pressure, the product could achieve the necessary density through the use of hot-press moulding. In order to provide the resistance of the product to moisture, the material could be industrially manufactured from recycled paper + 20% PET bottles (recycled), but then this product would lose the attractive motto: “recycled and recyclable”. Although I have thought of participating in “EKOdizains”, I have yet to put the thought into action.
I completely agree with the idea that ideas fly in the air, you only have to catch them. And it is no longer important who is the first one to catch an idea. What is important is that the designers are not left alone with their idea, that they have partners – technology specialists, scientists, manufacturers and managers, market specialists and brand creators. It is also essential to create an integrated team, a group of like-minded professionals with one aim – to generate a competitive and profitable product, so that the name of Latvia is echoed in the world with its achievements.
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