The second chapter of Hydro’s Milan series continues to highlight the company’s ongoing efforts to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, examining every level of the aluminium manufacturing process to get there.
Celebrating the launch of Hydro CIRCAL 100R in Milan in 2024, with its record low carbon content below 0.5 kilo CO2e per kilo aluminium, represented a major milestone for the Norwegian company.
– We don’t do these projects because they are easy, we do them because they are hard, says R100 Art Director Lars Beller Fjetland, paraphrasing John F. Kennedy’s famous moon landing quote.
The R100 designers – all blissfully unaware of the 100 km production radius when designing – were offered complete freedom by Hydro, with no limitations to extrusion press size, product size or product typology.
– We wanted to make sure that the project mirrors a real-life use-case, where a designer or manufacturer gets access to everything Hydro can offer, from design support to production processes, says Asle Forsbak, Director of Marketing and Communications at Hydro Extrusions.
The five R100 designers were selected for their distinct design expressions and complementary methodologies, resulting in a unique collection of mono-material aluminium products varying from home decor objects to chairs and furniture components. All products are made of Hydro CIRCAL 100R recycled aluminium.
The project, which officially began with the harvesting of 52 tons of locally sourced aluminium scrap from demolished greenhouses and decommissioned light poles in the Netherlands in November last year, involved a range of Hydro plants in the Benelux region, bringing each object to life within a 100 km radius.
– This is urban mining put into practice, says Forsbak.
– Working with small manufacturing clusters, which is not unique to R100 but typical for how Hydro works with our customers, allows for full traceability of material, from scrap to final product.
– When the starting point is a material with almost zero carbon footprint, this sets the standard for everything else we do. We are constantly looking to improve the entire footprint of our operations.
For Art Director Lars Beller Fjetland, the idea for R100 started to form already while working on Hydro’s 2024 exhibition “100R”.
– Part of the reason we chose to look at Hydro’s production chain emissions for this year’s project came from lessons learned during last year’s exhibition. I saw that there were gains to be made by examining every tiny part of the product manufacturing chain with the same emission-obsessed mindset as Hydro approaches the material itself, says Beller Fjetland.
Examining the extended footprint of the product manufacturing process for this year’s exhibition comes as a natural extension of Hydro’s 2024 project. For Beller Fjetland, it was important to ensure that not only the R100 products, but all aluminium components used in the exhibition design, were also made from 100% recycled post-consumer scrap.
Sabine Marcelis
SABINE MARCELIS
Typically associated with uniformity and efficiency, extrusion is rarely seen as a medium for expressive form. Dutch artist and designer Sabine Marcelis challenges this notion with Orbit Light, treating aluminum not just as structure but as a vessel for light. Reminiscent of a celestial body in motion, Orbit Light gets its name from the way light moves across its curved surface. Activated by the dimmer, it appears to escape and orbit the form, creating depth and fluidity. The large-scale extrusion gives it a sculptural presence, transforming it from a functional light into a spatial statement. Minimal post-processing preserves the purity of its form, with every detail refined to capture and reveal light in a way that feels both natural and unexpected. Scalable in length, Orbit Light adapts effortlessly to different spaces, from floor-to-ceiling installations to dynamic groupings.
Sabine Marcelis is a Rotterdam-based artist and designer known for her material-focused approach to product, installation, and spatial design. Since graduating from the Design Academy of Eindhoven in 2011, she has collaborated with industry specialists, integrating material research into the manufacturing process to create striking visual effects. She has collaborated with brands such as Vitra, Audi, Céline, IKEA, Dior, Fendi, and Renault. In 2024, Marcelis was named Dezeen’s Designer of the Year and featured on Architectural Digest’s AD100 list.
Keiji Takeuchi
KEIJI TAKEUCHI
Profil, named after the Norwegian word for “profile,” pays tribute to the aluminum frame at the heart of Japanese designer Keiji Takeuchi’s outdoor seating collection. At Profil’s core lies a meticulous interplay of structure and subtlety—each extruded piece snapping into place with near-imperceptible precision, measured down to 0.1 millimeters. While initially envisioned as a single-profile system, safety and structural needs led to a modular approach in which some parts share profiles and all parts adapt in scale. This versatility gives rise to an expanding landscape of benches and stackable chairs—lounge or high-back, with or without armrests. Balancing precision with engagement was essential to Takeuchi’s approach. As a result, Profil steers away from the “sterility of an over-engineered metal sculpture,” extending instead an open invitation to interact with its refined, yet familiar form.
Keiji Takeuchi is a Japanese furniture and industrial designer with a truly global outlook. His work transcends any culture or language, characterised by its purity, materiality and the absence of superfluous elements. Receiving his education in product design in Auckland, New Zealand, Takeuchi set up his own studio in 2015 and has since collaborated with renowned design brands such as Boffi,Alessi, De Padova, Living Divani, Geiger / Hermanmiller, Ligne Roset, Karimoku and Fredericia. Takeuchi was recently awarded the Monocle Design Award 2024 for his dining chair design Villetta for De Padova. During the Milan Design Week 2024, he orchestrated the ‘Walking Sticks & canes’ exhibition at Triennale Milano, which was the first curation show both conceived and staged by Takeuchi. A global success, the show has toured Karimoku Commons Tokyo, Emeco House, Venice, California and resulted in the book ‘Walking Sticks‘ from Lars Müller Publishers with Marco Sammicheli.
Cecilie Manz
CECILIE MANZ
The extruded profile takes center stage in Danish designer Cecilie Manz’s exploration of recycled aluminium. Rør—meaning “tube” in both Norwegian and Danish—transcends its role as a mere technical component to become an object in its own right. At first glance, Rør is just that: two simple cylindrical forms. But a closer look reveals hand-drawn imperfections resulting in something softer, more irregular, and less exact.Rør plays with contrast—the clash of a highly industrial, almost brutal process with the organic quality of a sketched line, reminding us of the myriad of possibilities inherent in the material. A universal shape is then transformed into something unique, giving the archetypal tube an aesthetic quality.
Cecilie Manz is a Danish furniture designer. Manz’ portfolio spans furniture, lighting, ceramics, and other everyday objects, blending simplicity with functionality to achieve a timeless design expression. She studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Design and set up her own studio in Copenhagen after graduating in 1997. Manz has designed for brands such as Fredericia, Fritz Hansen, Iittala, Kasthall, Maruni, 1616Arita and Muuto, as well as a longstanding collaboration with Bang & Olufsen. She is a recipient of the Finn Juhl Architectural Prize and Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres 2019 (France) and Bruno Mathsson Prize 2009 (Sweden).
Daniel Rybakken
Daniel Rybakken
The brainchild of Norwegian designer Daniel Rybakken, Fields is a sculpture made of industrially produced components, with no apparent practical function. Its purpose is purely emotional. Through abstraction, cold, rigid materials take on a poetic warmth, inviting a game of associations. When does a metal cylinder become a tree? When do individual elements form a field? The answer lies in balance—every proportion, contrast, and finish shaping the story Fields tells. This project is an exploration of material and process, pushing extruded aluminum beyond expectation. Free from commercial constraints, it embraces pure experimentation, revealing new possibilities within recycled aluminum. Fields is both a study in reduction and a statement on transformation—an object that is felt as much as it is seen.
Daniel Rybakken grew up in Oslo, Norway and studied design at the Oslo School of Architecture and the School of Arts & Crafts in Gothenburg, Sweden. The work of Daniel Rybakken occupies the area between art and design, forming limited editions, art installations and prototypes for serial production.In 2008 he opened his own design studio in both Oslo and Gothenburg, collaborating with renowned brands such as Luceplan, Ligne Roset, Panasonic and Vitra. Rybakken was recently named Designer of the Year 2024 award by Bo Bedre and has previously been awarded ‘Best of the Best’ Red Dot Award as well as the Design Report Award for best designer at Salone Satellite in Milan.
Stefan Diez
STEFAN DIEZ
BOSS by German designer Stefan Diez embodies a thoughtful approach to waste management. Made from a minimum of recycled aluminum extrusion profiles, it transforms recycling into an intentional, visible act. More than a bin, BOSS is a statement in design and sustainability—redefining the waste bin as an object meant to be seen rather than hidden. Precision engineering gives BOSS its unique functionality. Its clever design enables efficient production: the square bins are crafted from a single aluminum profile, which also serves as the lid for the smaller, round bins. The feet, bag holders, and pivoting axis of the lids are all formed from the same steel wire, reinforcing a consistent and resource-efficient design approach. The name itself plays on dual meanings—in some regions of Norway, “boss” means trash. BOSS is a nod to both Norwegian heritage and the product’s strong, assertive presence.
Stefan Diez is a German industrial designer with a background in cabinetmaking. Diez considers circular design to be a key principle of his product design philosophy, putting forward products with a sustainable approach that combines multiplicity of use with superior durability. He graduated from State Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart in 2002 and went on to set up his own Munich-based studio, DIEZ OFFICE, the following year. Diez’s studio developsurniture, lighting, architectural elements and accessories, collaborating with clients such as Herman Miller, Magis, Thonet, HAY and others. He is a repeated recipient of the Best of the Best’ Red Dot Award as well as the Wallpaper* Design Award, and serves as Head of the Industrial Design Department at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna.
Hydro at Milan Design Week
Capsule Plaza
Spazio Maiocchi
Via Achille Maiocchi 7
April 8 – 13, 2025
10:00 AM – 8:00 PM
ART DIRECTOR: LARS BELLER FJETLAND
Hydro is a leading aluminium and renewable energy company committed to a sustainable future, employing 32,000 employees in more than 140 locations and 42 countries. Hydro is present throughout the global aluminium value chain, from energy to bauxite mining and alumina refining, primary aluminium, aluminium extrusions and aluminium recycling.
In Hydro Extrusions, Hydro has the largest global aluminium extrusion-based solutions operation in the world, counting 70 production sites and operating in more than 40 countries. Extrusion is a manufacturing process that involves forcing base metal through a pre-shaped die to create objects with a specific shape and profile. As the metal passes through the die, its shape changes to reflect the die’s shape.