The Sofa 600, represents a strong facing to fast fashion and planned obsolescence. A sustainable, solid and original sofa. In it low environmental impact from production becomes its greatest philosophy and upcycling in its materialization model. Without a doubt, not only a very interesting and creative proposal by the Spanish firm Belybel, but also connected to one of the most urgent today’s needs: the change of the traditional model of consumption into a more sustainable one. In this article we inform you about this project and show you what the famous “upcycling” is about.
¿What is upcycling?
The upcycling-art duo is gaining more prominence and value in the fashion, furniture and architecture industry everyday. Those objects that are discarded by some people, are collected by others and turned into real pieces of art. In this ethical journey, many greenhouse gas emissions are avoided. Especially those come from the way of obtaining raw materials, product manufacturing processes, transport logistics and finally their destruction once their useful life cycle end. But, what is the difference between upcycling and traditional recycling? The difference is that the material to recover is not subject to treatments for its new use. On the contrary, its original format remains, transforming it into a higher value product.
Another reason that motivates creators, designers and artists in adopting this sustainable production technique as one of their favorites, is the fact of making contemporary products with an interesting past. And this is precisely what made Belybel’s historical appreciation for classical vehicles merge with upcycling to build iconic pieces with their own personality.
Google, Rolls Royce, the Piaggio Museum and the Virgin hotel in Chicago, are some of the companies that choose Belybel to decorate their spaces. And at Ekohunters we have 4 of their products, among them the protagonist of this article: the Sofa 600.
The mythical Sofa 600
We’ve decided to classify Belybel’s Sofa 600 as one of our iconic upcycling products. A design that returns to the 1960s to appropriate the mythical Seat 600, bring it to modernity and, through contemporary techniques, reinvent it on a sofa. A perfect piece for classic motoring fans and also for thematic spaces that seek to recreate that atmosphere.
It is important to highlight that, due to its handmade nature, each Sofa 600 is different and therefore exclusive. The first of it, for example, has parts of an authentic Seat 600 Model D. It had to undergo multiple recovery processes before being used in the design of the sofa. In this way, they recovered two front wings, one part of the front, another of the rear, the trunk of the car and its optics in such a way that they become resistant, functional and durable elements of the Sofa 600.
The interior of that first model, it was made of steel and other recovered metal parts. In fact, its seats had the elegant leatherette upholstery of a Seat 1430 recycled.
It include original emblems, functional headlights, directional lights with a hidden switch, and here’s the best: it’s customizable! You can choose the color of the external structure and of the original upholstery too. The latter is available in fabric and leather or combined leather. What is more, you can add a versatile compartment to the tailgate, a bluetooth sound system, a stereo speaker and even a small refrigerator.
Do you want to see even more? Find the whole Belybel’s catalog here and discover all of its sustainable and upcycling products.
