SEOUL DESIGN AWARD

Suber Design is a sustainable design project connecting people, society, and the environment by transforming post-consumer cork stoppers into furniture. Rather than simply recycling waste cork, it proposes a way to practice sustainability in daily life by turning it into new materials and products. Through a collection system involving non-profit organizations and vulnerable groups, the project has recovered approximately 320 million corks, reducing CO2 emissions that could have occurred during disposal.

By combining recovered cork with natural resins and applying an energy-optimized production method, a new composite material named 'CORE' was developed. In particular, a low-temperature molding method requiring low energy and natural resins were used to transform waste cork into a material usable as structural members for furniture. The characteristics of discarded materials are developed into new material and product forms, connecting resource circulation, function, and aesthetic completion into a single design process.

This project extends sustainability beyond environmental issues to encompass social responsibility. The production system is structured so that vulnerable groups can participate in the collection and processing of cork, creating inclusive jobs and supporting non-profit social activities. By combining industrial recycling technology with artisanal hand-finishing, the production process includes not only the reuse of resources but also human roles and skills. Through this, sustainability is utilized not as a design constraint, but as a starting point for creating new materials and products.

The collection's representative stool, 'Torre Edy', consists of a body made of CORE and a wooden top. Through smoothly connected curves, it embodies a calm and refined impression, encapsulating the physical properties of recycled materials and everyday furniture functions within a single form. By allowing material developed from waste to determine the actual product's structure and form, sustainability and formal expression are naturally connected.

Suber Design utilizes the circular economy as a creative tool to respond to the waste problem. It converted waste cork into a new structural composite material, connecting low-energy production, natural materials, artisanal handcrafting, and the participation of vulnerable groups into a single production system. By reflecting environmental and social values throughout the entire process of selecting, processing, and completing materials into products, it demonstrates the potential of sustainable design where ethical value, function, and beauty coexist.