Flek Pure is a translucent terrazzo-like panel made from 100% recycled materials

Although many people know about the benefits of using products made from recycled materials, few actively seek them out. The only times they do buy something that uses recycled materials is when it’s actually part of a bigger whole, and they have no choice on the matter. There are many presumptions and misconceptions about the quality of recycled products, which may have been true decades ago. Fortunately, designers, science, and technologies have moved forward since then, breaking the mold of what you can expect from recycled materials. This translucent resin-like material, for example, is so eye-catching and beautiful that you might not believe that it’s 100% made from bits and pieces that would have otherwise been thrown away.

Designer: 3form

Back in the day, you could easily tell recycled paper from virgin paper with a single look. Recycled paper is often rough and brown or gray, properties that are unappealing and sometimes even unusable in some applications. That’s no longer true today, of course, but there are still some things that are difficult to pull off when using recycled materials. Most products using recycled materials, for example, are often opaque, which is what makes this striking material even more impressive.

Flek Pure is a resin-like material for use as panels in doors, partitions, decorations, and anywhere else you would need a durable and sustainable slab that would be a stand-in for glass or fiberglass. The “Pure” variant, specifically, looks like frosted glass with a few random specs of colors that give it a terrazzo-like character. Like frosted glass, it is translucent, and you can make out shapes and shadows behind the panel, creating an interesting visual that still maintains your privacy.

That translucency is a rare trait among materials made from recycled bits, especially one that’s 100% recycled, like Flek Pure. The company uses a unique and meticulous process that creates pellets from internally sourced waste or upcycled materials and then sorts these pellets according to their clarity and cleanliness. This is how the translucent appearance is achieved, and the bits that aren’t so clear are still used to create the “imperfections” that give Flek its terrazzo aesthetic. Nothing is wasted, which makes Flek Pure an excellent solution for environment-conscious designers.

Of course, not everyone will find Flex Pure’s clear whiteness always appealing. There are other colorways available as well, which all maintain that translucent quality. The addition of color, however, does pull the sustainability a bit down to using only 92% recycled material, but it’s still a significant win, especially compared to opaque or muddy panels that use even less recycled parts.

The post Flek Pure is a translucent terrazzo-like panel made from 100% recycled materials first appeared on Yanko Design.

Endlessly modular smart LED panels turn your walls into dynamic light installations!

The year is 2021 and wallpaper has just been rendered obsolete. Meet the Nanoleaf Shapes, a series of slim, smart LED panels that come in geometric shapes and can be connected to one another to create a dynamic work of art on your walls. The modular panels can be used to create shapes, patterns, textures, even text, and they add a touch of color to spaces when off, but completely transform the ambiance of a room when switched on!

The Nanoleaf Shapes are infinitely customizable, like a jigsaw puzzle with no real end-goal. You can create the shape or graphic that you want, and the smart LED panels do the rest of the work. The panels can light up in as many as 16 million different colors, and can be customized within their smartphone app. The LayoutDetect™ feature allows the individual LED panels to identify the shape and layout of your design, and enables them to work in tandem with each other, behaving as a singular lighting unit. Once connected, you an use the panels as mere ambient lights, although they’re capable of much more. The smart LED panels work via touch, and can instantly be transformed into an interactive installation that changes hues when you touch any of the panels. Alternatively, they can connect to your smart speaker and change colors to the rhythm of the music you play, or better still, connect them to a television and activate the Match mode to make them light up with hues from your screen, turning your wall green when you watch a football match, blue when you watch an ocean documentary, or dynamically shift colors as you watch a movie! Your walls and room will never look dull again! And with 16 million colors to choose from, they definitely shouldn’t!

Designer: Nanoleaf Shapes

LG Display’s TV and phone screens struggle against cheaper Chinese rivals

Unable to compete with the glut of cheaper Chinese LCD panels, LG Display has replaced its chief executive and is looking to cut jobs. Early this week, the South Korean company held an emergency board meeting to accept the resignation of Han Sang-beo...