Wood, plastic, glass, stone, textiles solid surface…The range of materials available to architecture and design professionals is so large that they even have their own materials libraries.  Today we’re getting to know a few of the materials that are currently trending.

Recycled Plastic

In 2018, the London Design Fair chose plastic as the Material of the Year.  Conscious of its bad reputation, as single-use plastic is one of the most harmful materials when it comes to the environment, they decided to shine the spotlight on four designers that were using recycled plastic in ingenious ways. Some of the objects on display included colourful furniture from Charlotte Kidger made from polyurethane foam dust and vases by Kodai Iawamoto made from plastic piping.

 

The power of cabinetmaking: wooden slats

A Casa Decor 2019, we were able to see different interior design projects that brought back wooden slats, such as “Wood Work”, the space by Román Windows designed by Ángel Verdú and the winner of the 2019 Casa Decor Prize for Best Project.  The vertical lines of the slats give the space a visual order and ceiling height, and also gives the surfaces an interesting pattern.  The new Inndex showroom also draws on the use of slats in oak.

Wood and stone, doomed to understand each other

Fran Casinello from Mandalay loves natural materials.  We saw it in the last two editions of Casa Decor.  In 2018 he presented a loft with a kitchen in black ash wood with stone countertops, and in 2019 he transferred this combination to the bathroom, with walls of onyx stone and ceramic and laminated wood floors.  This perfect duo of wood and stone can also be seen in other projects from Mandalay.

 

Cork

Amongst all these natural materials that are so in fashion, there is one that is relatively unknown but that is having a huge awakening: cork.  Thanks to its sound absorption qualities, nowadays it can be seen in many office spaces.  We have also seen it used in furniture design, such as the stools designed by Jasper Morrison for Vitra and the tables from Michael Sodeau for Modus.