ÉCAL's grow-at-home sponge furniture expands to ten times its size
Researchers from Swiss design school ÉCAL have unveiled a range of flat-pack furniture at Milan design week that needs to be soaked in water to reach its final form.
The collection, called Under Pressure Solutions or UPS, is constructed from thin, compressed sheets of cellulose sponge, allowing the objects to fit into flat parcels ? some small enough to squeeze through a letterbox ? for more efficient shipping.
ÉCAL presented a collection of foam furniture at Milan design week 2024
On arrival, the grow-at-home products must then be drenched in the bath or the shower, causing them to blow up to around 10 times their original size in a matter of seconds.
Once wrung out, the sponge is left to dry and harden, creating sturdy, self-supporting furniture that can carry the weight of a person and outperform conventional plastic foam in terms of durability, according to the researchers. The furniture is strong enough to carry the weight of a person
The sponge is derived from wood offcuts and gains its strength from the very same cellulose fibres that a tree uses to reinforce its trunk and branches.
"Cellulose is a part of nature so, like a tree, it can be flexible and strong at the same time," ÉCAL researcher and industrial designer Christophe Guberan told Dezeen.
Each piece is designed to be flat-packed and expanded at home
With a small spritz of water, the pieces become flexible once more, allowing them to be remoulded or repaired by smoothing out any dents.
And, once...
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