maor aharon repurposes abandoned wood furniture into multicolored stools

israel-based designer maor aharon produces twenty unique ‘matter of motion’ stools for the center for environmental education in hiriya, a recycling park in israel’s central district — not far from tel aviv. 

around the table in the center of hiriya
all images © maor aharon

the center for environmental education is israel’s largest of its kind that tackles the subject of waste and recycling. it was founded by ‘dan municipal sanitation association‘ out of an understanding that, in addition to promoting innovative technology, it is necessary to act in the field of environmental awareness and community advocacy. aharon‘s project implements such sustainable values, like low-energy and semi-industrial construction techniques using strong and durable composite materials that are easily repairable if scratched as well as a one-man production line that recycles waste. this environmentally conscious approach embodies qualities shared and promoted by the center.

stool tops crafted with vivid colors

tel aviv’s streets are full of abandoned wooden furniture that likely would have found their way to hiriya for sorting, and later to landfills in the south. aharon recognized this as an opportunity and for two months, he brought dozens of pieces of old wooden furniture to his studio where they were repurposed as stool legs. the wooden parts have been minimally refinished in order to preserve the memory of their original form.

each stool has a unique graphic finishing

aaron was given a free hand in choosing colors for stools

maor aharon matter of motion – the legs retained their original character

in the studio during production 

legs wood detail 

All the stools are numbered and signed 

the center hosts dozens of groups of students every week

pieces of furniture were collected for two months

MoM stools for hiriya
video © maor aharon studio

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: lea zeitoun | designboom