MAR/APR 2019_ _ 077Terrazzo has been having a renaissance of late. Speckled surfaces are pop-
ping up everywhere – not just on floors, but on walls, furniture and more.
In this eco-conscious era, it’s only appropriate that one of the oldest upcycled
materials is experiencing a comeback, but the designers working with
21st-century terrazzo are doing much more than just creating composites
from pebble-sized bits of marble waste, as Venetian stoneworkers began
doing centuries ago.
Take Urban Terrazzo, a project by the Berlin-based design and archi-
tecture collective They Feed Off Buildings, which salvages material from
demolished structures in a variety of cities to create a new product. Chunks
of brick, concrete and even metal are broken down into aggregate and
mixed with ultra high performance concrete to make surfaces, including
custom countertops, in which the character of the former building lives on.
The project was recently nominated for both a Green Product Award and
a German Design Award.
In Rotterdam, meanwhile, Marten van Middelkoop and Joost Dingemans
officially launched Plasticiet in 2018, after graduating from the product
design program at Willem de Kooning Academy. Aiming to recycle plastic
waste into a long-lasting product, the start-up began experimenting with
different types of plastic to develop a sheet material that could be used for
interior architecture or furniture. “Realistically, plastic is one of the most
broadly used materials in this age, and it’s not going anywhere. What we
need to change is the way we use it,” says the team. Their rigid panels are
made in four terrazzo-like styles, using materials such as lawn furniture,
lunch trays, buckets and post-industrial mass-production waste. The
product was recently used to form an eight-metre-long entrance desk at
the Biennale Interieur in Belgium.
While Robin Grasby’s Altrock solid surfacing may incorporate more
traditional terrazzo materials, the look is anything but. The London
designer’s proprietary mix is made from 87 per cent reclaimed and recycled
materials and incorporates marble dust and chips as well as oversized
chunks of offcuts and broken slabs. Held together with 13 per cent resin, the
product has an exaggerated, graphic look that shows off the characteristics
of the natural stone. The slabs are hand-cast in custom shapes and sizes,
then sealed with wax oil to add durability and waterproofing, making them
suitable for furniture, worktops and even bathroom surfaces. Pigments
can be added to create endless colour options. Though Altrock launched
only this past October, it’s already appearing in interior projects, including
on the tabletops at the new Marmelo Dining Room (designed by Haxch) in
London. _E.D. urbanterrazzo.com, plasticiet.com, altrocksurfaces.comTerrazzo for
the 21st century
New takes on terrazzo
include (clockwise from
left) Urban Terrazzo’s
demolition waste–based
product, Plasticiet’s
recycled plastic surfaces
and Altrock, with its
sizeable marble offcuts.