Recycled Chairs Made of Shingles

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Recycling is extremely popular in the design environment and it is important for conservation of natural resources. Therefore, designs made from waste are welcomed at design exhibitions. This time, Tsuyoshi Hayashi, Japanese architect living in the Dutch city of Eindhoven, has introduced a novelty. He has brought his Kawara Benches to the International Furniture Fair Imm Cologne 2014, held recently in Cologne.

Kawara Bench: Recycled Chairs Made of Shingles

Kawara bench by Tsuyoshi Hayashi

Within the frameworks of the exhibition there was a competition for young designers called D3 Contest. Tsuyoshi Hayashi was one of the participants.

The young designer was concerned with the fate of ceramic tiles, rejected for various reasons, which in Japan are used for farmhouse roofs. Its processing is extremely costly, and Tsuyoshi Hayashi came up with a way to utilize the shingles.

Kawara Benches is a modular system of chairs, which consist of a very simple wooden frame and ceramic tiles as seats. The Japanese tiles appeared to be ideal seats.

When working on Kawara Benches project, Tsuyoshi Hayashi designed a wooden frame so that the tiles could fit tightly to each other, forming a bench. Apart from that, Tsuyoshi Hayashi has also designed a high bar version of chairs with footrests.

Kawara bench by Tsuyoshi Hayashi

The tiles are made at the local plant in Takahama, known for its excellent clay. About 5% of the products are disposed as waste due to manufacturing defects. Hayashi uses these tiles for his furniture, cutting off cleavages and inserting the tiles into a wooden frame. The curved shape of the tiles makes the chairs ergonomic and allows to sit with a straight back. The local clay is strong enough to allow these seats to withstand loads up to 260 pounds.

The project has received a lot of positive feedback at the exhibition from the industrial design gurus for unconventional approach, fresh idea, and, of course, for the aesthetics and beauty of this very simple furniture. In addition, the project to some extent solves the problem of defective shingles disposal.