Prototype: TANK

Tank
Azara Design Lab explores how mundane materials can be reconstituted into long lasting and useful items with elevated value. Our goal is to capture the embodied energy lost when raw goods are transformed into consumer products that are quickly rendered obsolete and then tossed into the garbage.

This furniture series takes post-consumer paper as a source material. Paper and cardboard waste is soaked in water until reduced to pulp. This is mixed with small amounts of Portland cement. The resultant slurry is then poured into various molds and left to dry. Upon removal, the hard yet tensile product has been dubbed “Paper-Crete”.

With the Tank prototype, we tried to exploit all properties of paper-crete. The light weight modular frames are triangulated for maximum structural efficacy with a minimal use of material. The various types frames (six in all) are designed to lock together with dowels and can be easily arranged into various seating configurations. When needs or desires change the frames can be pulled apart, rearranged or exchanged.
With variegated wood tones based on the balance of paper to cardboard, former trash is revealed to possess a unique and interesting finish (with the application of a water based semi-gloss sealer). The paper-crete mix for the small chair has been treated to a high concentration of fly-ash and takes on a patina similar to fiber cement board. Other finish options could involve laminated bamboo ply, recycled plastic, and an endless array of veneers, paints and lacquers.
Adaptability has always been a hallmark of our work. We feel that imbuing multiple levels of functionality into a single product is one of the most fail-safe ways to lengthen the longevity of our products while strengthening our commitment to our environment.
Seen here is a sofa utilizing five of the frame shapes with eighteen interconnected segments. A club seat of three shapes and ten segments and chair of three shapes and six pieces are also illustrated.
With Azara’s draped cushioning system, flexibility and comfort is assured.

BEE

Finding new uses for mundane materials is one of our goals. If all of the Earth's resources can be made to seem precious and worthy of being conserved, large amounts of what we now consider garbage would suddenly be re-evaluated. Vast amounts of paper products are used and discarded each day. This paper can be easily recycled into cardboard. Cardboard too is often regarded as worthless packing material destined for the landfill.

Can modest materials be elevated in status by fully exploiting inherent structural, visual and tactile properties?

The majesty of the tree these products once were should be upheld, somehow.
Beeboard or Torhex, are expanded corrugated cardboard sheet goods that form the basis of this prototypical sofa. The material is made from industrial and post consumer paper products and is used primarily as a packaging material and as core filler in hollow door construction.

The expanded cardboard is sandwiched between sheets of hardboard, imparting structural rigidity and increased longevity. These products are lightweight and strong, readily available and familiar yet, in this context, also surprising and unfamiliar. Used as the base for this sofa, the beeboard has been folded bellows like, further increasing structural properties while enhancing the textural complexity of the honeycombed cellular matrix.
Over this long and reticulated base are draped custom made linear cushions filled with shredded blue jean material recycled from the manufacturing of clothing. These draped cushions are made to order in any fabric, hide or material. Colors can be coordinated or randomly collaged to suit the needs of ant décor. The flexibility and expressive opportunities are endless. Thus, this sofa can be adapted as times change, lengthening the useful lifespan of such humble trash.