An Amalgamation of Sustainability and Digital Craftsmanship

As a community we are constantly striving for a more sustainable future. Designers and architects are constantly on a quest to find techniques, materials and solutions that leave less carbon footprint, reduce waste and energy consumption. While there have been many experiments and breakthroughs in this direction, Rotterdam-based studio The New Raw have developed circular design concepts that not only close material cycles but also raise public awareness.

The New Raw, a research and design studio, was founded by architects Panos Sakkas and Foteini Setaki. The studio is focussed on finding new ways of recycling plastic with robotic 3D printing technology. We caught up with Panos and Foteini to understand more about their implementation of circular design, and use of 3D printing for a more sustainable future. A few excerpts from the interview…

The Genesis… Panos: It was in 2015 when we founded The New Raw. We started from the observation that we live in a growing society consuming more and more resources and generating enormous amounts of plastic waste. As creatives, we wanted to approach this problem in a positive manner; by suggesting a new way of thinking regarding materials and their applications and explore what design can do for the environment. This is how we started working on plastic waste in combination with new technologies. All our designs are fabricated with robots from waste materials that are sourced locally. In this sense, we employ digital craftsmanship and compose sustainable products with a material narrative.

Is 3D printing a sustainable approach?