New Hybrids

Year: 2014
Dimensions: 45 x 60 x 70 cm
Materials: NewspaperWood veneer, oak veneer, steel
Photography: Raw Color

New Hybrids is a chair made out of NewspaperWood. This material, developed by Studio Mieke Meijer in 2003, uses a special method of layering to manufacture wood-like structures from old newspapers. Through innovations in the production process, NewspaperWood has recently evolved into a paper-thin material able to be applied to products such as New Hybrids.

Producing new materials out of waste regenerates seemingly useless matter into valuable resources. The material becomes a hybrid, able to perform within multiple surroundings and for multiple purposes. For New Hybrids the NewspaperWood is turned into a veneer and used with a folding technique that reinforces the material whilst providing an aesthetic that corresponds with its origin.

NewspaperWood reverses a traditional production process; not from wood to paper, but from (news)paper to wood. Produced in logs, a slice of NewspaperWood shows the layers of paper which correspond to wood grain or growth rings of a tree and therefore resemble the aesthetics of real wood. NewspaperWood is the result of a 2003 project by Mieke Meijer. After partnering with design label Vij5 in 2007 and the presentation of the material at its infancy in 2011, Studio Mieke Meijer recently decided to join forces with Vij5 in a new company to take the material to the next level. NewspaperWood BV is dedicated to the production and development of the NewspaperWood material in order to find new intermediate products and innovative applications. NewspaperWood BV acts as a partner in selected projects only.