Álvaro Catalán de Ocón's PET Lamp and Plastic Rivers social initiatives shine a light on PET plastic recycling at NYC x Design Festival
The socially-conscious design initiatives – PET Lamp and Plastic Rivers – created by Álvaro Catalán de Ocón (ACdO) joined up with plastic producers, collectors, recyclers, designers and consumers in New York to put PET at the heart of the NYC x Design Festival to start an important discussion about a common goal: closing the PET plastic loop.
The Spanish designer and his talented team of artisans created a unique installation for the world’s most important design festival shining a light on two important themes in contemporary design: honoring ancient traditions and sustainability.
The Plastic Rivers and PET Lamp exhibit at SWC counted on the sponsorship of AdaPETation, a solution-seeking organization created in 2021 by Evertis and Selenis (IMG Group). ACdO’s social impact initiatives, PET Lamp and Plastic Rivers will take over the Sure We Can recycling center, community space and sustainability hub in Brooklyn, New York for a week of the world’s top design festival.
The site-specific installation honored a host of PET heroes, including the hard-working recycling industry and talented artisans from all over the world bringing a fresh look at our relationship with trash.
As well as highlighting the importance of recycling, ACdO invites indigenous wisdom into the 21st century conversation about how the human species can weave itself harmoniously into the earth’s fragile ecosystems and work with the planet’s finite resources.
Plastic Rivers is a collection of rugs, handmade by artisans in India, with recycled plastic yarn. The rugs depict aerial images of the most plastic polluted rivers on Earth. This project is a manifesto that conveys a critical perspective on plastic pollution, especially in rivers and oceans due to the global commercialization of waste from rich to poor countries. PET Lamp is an international social project, present in seven different countries that reuses plastic bottles and transforms them into lamps, restoring discarded materials into reusable, valued objects.
Shining a Light on Recycling
The pop-up display took pride of place in Sure We Can (SWC), the non-profit recycling center, community space, and sustainability hub based in Brooklyn, one of the two spaces that hosted a PET Lamp exhibit during the festival.
Founded in 2007, SWC was created to improve the living and working conditions of “canners”, the PET heroes who collect cans and bottles from the streets of New York City. The center provides a safe space to store, organize, and exchange collected materials. It also organizes educational activities to promote sustainability and recycling.
The second location showcasing PET Lamp in New York was WantedDesign Manhattan, where PET Lamp, alongside Cappellini, co-sponsored the Launch Pad Lounge at WantedDesign Manhattan in conjunction with the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) at Javits Center. ICFF is a trade event within NYC x Design, which partners with WantedDesign to annually recognize international design.
The collaboration with WantedDesign’s Launch Pad Lounge marked PET Lamp’s debut in New York. The space featured 21 lampshades from the Eperara Siapidara Collection, PET Lamp’s inaugural project. These lampshades are woven from the leaves of the Paja Tetara palm tree native to the Cauca region in southwestern Colombia. The local artisans, displaced by the Colombian guerrilla in Bogotá, dye the palm strips with vibrant colors that accentuate the traditional motifs delicately woven into the shades. The unique handmade process means that no two lampshades are the same.
Additionally, Álvaro Catalán de Ocón, was a juror in WantedDesign’s exhibit and for Best of Launch Pad for Lighting. Forty-six designers participated in this year’s selection, which also included a furniture and home accessories award. Both juries were led by Caroline Williamson, Editorial Director of Design Milk.
The Plastic Rivers and PET Lamp exhibit at SWC counted on the sponsorship of AdaPETation, a solution-seeking organization created in 2021 by Portugal-Based plastic producer Evertis group (The IMG Group). AdaPETation aims to power conversations that put the polymers industry on a regenerative path.
Event Details
Sure We Can Exhibit
291 Mckibbin Street, Brooklyn, NY 11206
If you couldn’t make the show, check it out here, and sign up to join the AdaPETation Network for more information about future events and happenings.
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THE HISTORY OF PLASTIC
Throughout the history of plastic, PET has been crucial in keeping food fresh with lightweight and durable packaging solutions that have helped reduce food waste for almost a century. Learn all about the invention of plastic and the important role it has played feeding people and saving the lives of humans and elephants in the adaPETation® timeline of the history of plastic.
