At Milan Design Week 2024, world-leading Norwegian aluminium and renewable energy company Hydro presented the groundbreaking exhibition 100R – a celebration of Hydro CIRCAL 100R, the world’s first industrial-scale aluminium product made entirely of post-consumer scrap. To showcase the material’s vast possibilities, Hydro had gathered a team of seven renowned designers to create objects from this revolutionary aluminium.
Hydro is steadfast in its commitment to leading the charge towards a more sustainable metal industry. The company’s groundbreaking Hydro CIRCAL 100R recycled aluminium product boasts an unprecedentedly low carbon footprint of less than 0.5 kg CO2e per kg of aluminium. At the 100R exhibition during Milan Design Week, visitors experienced firsthand how aluminium scrap can be transformed into stunning design objects ready for mass production, while simultaneously advancing the green transition.
Hydro sought to challenge conventional perceptions of aluminium and inspire a broader adoption of this highly sustainable material. To achieve this, the company entrusted Norwegian designer Lars Beller Fjetland with the art direction, concept development, and strategy for the 100R exhibition. He curated a team of renowned designers, including Inga Sempé, Max Lamb, Andreas Engesvik, Shane Schneck, Rachel Griffin, John Tree, and Philippe Malouin, to create design pieces exclusively crafted from Hydro’s innovative recycled aluminium.
“This project underscores our collective journey towards a future where reusing existing materials is essential for sustainable living and manufacturing. Hydro CIRCAL 100R perfectly embodies this principle, as aluminium can be infinitely recycled without compromising quality. I am confident that this exceptional material will remain indispensable for centuries to come,” stated Beller Fjetland.
He explains that the designers were chosen for their specific skill sets and personalities. His strategy was to create a strong and clear framework and then offer the designers complete freedom to create within these predefined parameters.
“Innovation starts at the drawing board, so collaborating with designers at the beginning of the process is key to creating something remarkable. No one is better fit to showcase the potential in extrusion manufacturing and aluminium than today’s top designers. Working with Lars and this group of world-class designers, with their uncompromised ideas, is something out of the ordinary, and shows what we can achieve. When designers, engineers and material specialists unite, is when the innovation happens,” says Asle Forsbak, 100R project lead and Marketing & Communication Director at Hydro Extrusions.
He adds that the only challenge they put on the designers was to use mono-material thinking in designing purely from extruded aluminium.
“It is amazing how the challenge was tackled,” says Forsbak. “By using smart production techniques, you can see great functionality, rational designs and production processes, and even organic forms, which provide a surprising effect. It was liberating to give full freedom to the designers to create virtually anything. And even more so to see our engineers help them realize their ideas, making products that are ready to be mass-produced tomorrow.”
The 100R exhibition will showcase the following design objects, made entirely from Hydro CIRCAL 100R aluminium:
Table lamp [Grotte] by Inga Sempé
Table lamp [Prøve Light] by Max Lamb
Coat stand [Tsuba] by Andreas Engesvik
Vessel [Nave 1, 2, & 3] by Shane Schneck
Partition [Serial] by Rachel Griffin
Chair [Billet Chair] by John Tree
Shelving system [T-Board] by Philippe Malouin
All Photo by: Einar Aslaksen