Recycled plastic

The Meditation Chair

The idea of 'making space' sits at the core of design studio's Space Available ethos, product and program. It is, in many ways, the very foundation of the company’s wider ethos. Put simply, it is a message about the interconnected reality of the Universe – holding space for yourself in order to create space for nature; nourishing the individual to feed a community; acknowledging the ties between microcosm and macrocosm, and how we are each one part of the whole.

Daily meditation is, for the Space Available family, an important avenue for clearing the mental body to make space for a more conscious existence. The team’s dedication to the practice of mindfulness is how the Space Available 'Meditation Chair' came into being.

Designed by Space Available Studios in 2020, during the height of the pandemic, this chair embodies the 'making space' ethos in a powerful way. It invites you to embrace a state of stillness, at the same time acting as a potent reminder of the waste plastic crisis and the impacts of human consumerism on the natural world.

So, the Meditation Chair also acts as a vessel for the preservation of traditional Indonesian craft practices – a statement, if you like, on the rapid mechanisation of the modern design universe and how it is indeed possible to keep the human spirit, culture and creativity in the equation when it comes to creating products for the future.

Because of the artisanal nature of the production process, the Meditation Chair is crafted in limited numbers, relaying the idea that less is more when it comes to our material possessions. Each piece comes with a repair and recycling plan, ensuring every Meditation Chair remains within a circular system, and the plastic that makes up each strip of rope never returns to nature as waste again.

Space Available’s hope is that through something as simple as a chair for daily meditations, people will become inspired to better themselves and the world around them in a holistic manner that connects humankind back to our responsibility as the true custodians of Planet Earth.

Making process

Each chair is made from multi-coloured strips of recycled plastic rope made from waste plastics collected in Indonesia, then intricately hand-woven around a rattan frame by artist Nano Uhero and his team at his Bali workshop. No two chairs are the same. This results is a collection of truly unique pieces that tell a unique story and reflects on the dynamic qualities of artisanal craftsmanship and the natural world.

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.