2021 Edition

The idea was born in beautiful landscape of Mazury. Reed mat creation is Dorota’s family business. Naturalex creates a sustainable material out of resources naturally growing in Mazury region in Poland. The common reed (Phragmites australis) is a dominant plant of freshwater reservoirs. Thanks to its adaptability, resistance to weather conditions and a short growing season, reed can survive in the most demanding environments. It is a cheap material that additionally cleans the environment in phytoremediation water treatment. Most of reed’s uses are to create sorted bundles of stems which are then made into mats and plate structures. Inspired by process itself and the handmade forms of equipment used in the reed mat production, we created a design, which is based on boards made of reused plastic. The waste we use are plastic threads used during a few phases of the process. Polipropylene rope is used during many processes in gardening and agriculture industries. Because of its properties and price it is very hard to be replaced by other degradable materials. Collected plastic cords have already some reed impurities: that is why they are not commonly recycled. Those leftovers can be stored or given to incineration plant. Our design solves this problem. Plastic waste collected by Naturalex is milled and used to create the base material of the boards. Material we created has unique aesthethic properties-it is semi transparent, depending on proportions of organic input. Reed pieces give unique patterns. Because of wide range of applications PP rope is a commonly seen waste that contaminates our environment. We may incorporate local farmers and producers who use the plastic threads by collecting unrecyclable waste from them. Masuria is a modular city bench. It is constructed of composite shaped board multiplied and connected by metal bars and fixing elements. Composite boards are spaced apart leaving blank space in between. This construction resembles reed straws growing in natural environment. The shape was inspired an item used in the reed processing. Bench design allows to add screen elements such as reed mat dividers. This may be used in larger public spaces where there is a high need for separating bench users. Besides reed reacts well to UV and humidity. Due to its porosity it has acoustic properties. It does not heat up during heat wave and can be an ecological outdoor shade. There is a possibility to implement light into the model to emphasize the beauty of our material.