I love sustainable products that reuse a material in a way that is a play on its past life. The Seatbelt Chair by Adam Barron does just that. By using the naturally strong belt material and the locking clasp, Barron weaves the seatbelts like basket around a metal frame, resulting in a modern chair with a sustainable flair.

The project is the outcome of a product design contest held by Uncommon Goods, where participants were challenged to design a product using reclaimed auto parts. Adam created the prototype from a steel rod frame and seatbelts he collected from a local junkyard. Originally a school project, Adam was required to incorporate three of five Japanese design principles: humor, craftsmanship, compactness, asymmetry and simplicity. The steel rod frame that is bent to form, welded, powder coated and then cloaked in 53 seatbelts and buckles collected from old cars in scrapyards in New York.

Each one-of-a-kind seatbelt chair is handmade is New York. Fabricated to be highly adjustable, (much like a seatbelt) there are fittings that allow for adjustment of the tightness of the vertically oriented seatbelts. Metal snaps fasten the horizontally oriented seatbelts to the steel frame, allowing them to be removed or rearranged.

About the Designer: Adam Barron is an Industrial Design student at the University of Cincinnati.

via Uncommon Goods