Green Valleys
Ottan Studio is an impact enterprise, focused on the production and design of sustainable materials.
Ottan transforms organic green waste like grass into wall panels, tiles, furniture, lighting, and more. It brings the mesmerising colours and textures of nature into living spaces while advocating that it is possible to produce from nature, without consuming virgin resources. This material is a durable, aesthetic and sustainable, bio-composite material made from grass.
Ottan materials can be used in wall and floor coverings, furniture, accessories, lighting, jewellery, automotive interiors, home appliances, electronics, countertops, and toys. The material can be drilled, sanded, laser-cut, and CNC machined.
Although the world’s critical natural resources such as forests are under serious threat of extinction, we keep consuming them as if they were infinite, while conveniently ignoring the destruction we have been bringing to our natural environment. Projections show that if we do not change our consumption habits immediately, we are going to pass the tipping point in terms of the world’s biological limits and the consequences for future generations will be more severe than we can afford.
Acutely aware of this reality, Ayse Yılmaz, the founder of Ottan Studio, saw the marvellous potential of green waste as a raw material. Extensive R&D enabled the Ottan team to come up with an innovative process, in which they managed to turn organic garden waste into high-quality, commercially viable products. Soon, Ottan Studio was on its path to creating a circular production model that had the potential for widespread application in architecture and product design.
Ottan Studio creates solutions for companies that are seeking to up-cycle their green waste into high-quality products through sustainable production methods. The brand aims to make a difference through its holistic perspective in an ambitious bid to shape the connections between nature, people, life and design. Every step taken shows its commitment to increasing the sectoral awareness of the circular economy, zero waste and sustainability concepts, hoping this will inspire industries to engage with these models on a deeper level.
Directly contributing to the realisation of the UN Agenda 2030, Ottan Studio values green waste and strives to prevent excessive consumption of our most valuable resources, using 100% locally sourced garden waste and materials.
Making process
There are 3 stages in the production: raw material preparation, casting/pressing/vacuum infusion and finishing.
In the first stage, the waste is cleaned and then dried in ovens. Following this, shredding and sieving processes are applied. In the second stage, for the standard materials, vacuum infusion or hand casting methods are applied by mixing the sieved particles with resin. For the stone-like and acoustic series, the press method is applied. After those, moulds are oven dried at controlled temperatures. In the final step, the product is completed with burnishing, sanding or polishing applications if needed.
Standard series can be drilled, sanded, laser cut and CNC machined. Stone-like series can be drilled, sanded and CNC machined. Applications other than thermoforming may degrade the colour and surface structure of the material. Following this, varnishing process may be required to preserve the colour or, if any, properties such as water resistance. Sheets suitable for thermoforming can be baked at 60-70 degrees and twisted.
Text submitted by the maker and edited by the Future Materials Bank. For information about reproducing (a part of) this text, please contact the maker.