Room 205

PaperShell is a groundbreaking, 100 per cent bio-based material derived from paper pulp that surpasses plastic in strength and is half the weight of aluminum. While the material has already been put to use for facade panels and automotive and electronics components, a new collaboration with Arper is carrying it into the furniture sector. Introduced at Salone del Mobile 2024, Arper’s Catifa Carta chair features a seat made from stacked paper impregnated with a biogenic hemicellulose binder, then pressed and cut into shape. At the product’s end of life, Arper will recycle it into biochar to enrich soil and regenerate forests — closing the circular loop. In this workshop, Casey Bond (Arper’s Marketing Director, Americas) and Fabian Hardt (Head of Sustainability at PaperShell) will outline the design and manufacturing process behind Catifa Carta and discuss how other designers can adopt the material for use in their own projects.