Most acoustic panels exist as a necessary evil. You know the type: thick foam squares in aggressive wedge shapes, usually in black or grey, installed in a recording studio or conference room with zero consideration for how the space actually looks. They do their job. They do it without any grace. And for years, that was the trade-off we accepted without question.
LIBGRAPHY’s REBORN PULP acoustic panel doesn’t accept that trade-off. The Japanese design studio has been quietly building a case for what acoustic treatment can look like when the people behind it actually care about both problems at once, and the more you learn about this piece, the more you understand why it’s been turning heads.
Designer: LIBGRAPHY
The material story alone is worth paying attention to. REBORN PULP is made entirely from 100% recycled paper pulp, with no plastics and no synthetic adhesives. It is fully biodegradable. In a category where polyester fiber and foam are the default, a panel that begins its life as discarded paper and can return to the earth when it’s done is a genuinely radical proposition. The name “Reborn” isn’t just branding. It’s a philosophy the whole product is built around.
What makes the engineering here quietly impressive is the dual-layer construction. The outer shell is molded pulp, giving the panel its form and texture, while the interior is packed with loose pulp fiber. That combination works together to absorb sound across a wide frequency range, which is the part that matters most if you’re actually trying to fix a room’s acoustics. Getting a material to absorb sound consistently across low, mid, and high frequencies is not a trivial engineering challenge, and the dual-layer approach suggests LIBGRAPHY took that technical problem seriously before worrying about how the final product would photograph. A lot of design-forward acoustic products look pretty and perform modestly. This one appears to take both seriously.
Then there’s the aesthetic angle, which is where I think the design conversation gets most interesting. LIBGRAPHY drew inspiration from Karesansui, the traditional Japanese dry landscape garden. If you’ve ever stood in front of one of those carefully raked sand gardens and felt an inexplicable sense of calm wash over you, you already understand the logic. The surface of the REBORN PULP panel carries that same quiet, rhythmic quality. Ridges and textures that reference raked sand, rendered in recycled paper. It’s an unusual and genuinely poetic translation.
The color palette reinforces this. The panel is available in shades drawn from traditional Japanese color naming: natural, pale grey, celadon, and indigo. These aren’t colors chosen because they’re trendy. They’re colors with cultural weight, and they communicate a kind of restraint that a lot of contemporary design products desperately try to fake.
I’ll admit I have a soft spot for design that refuses to treat function and beauty as separate departments. We’ve spent decades watching sustainability get squeezed into products as an afterthought, announced via small text on the packaging while the object itself looks like it came out of the same mold as everything else. REBORN PULP doesn’t do that. The recycled material is the design. The environmental commitment is legible in the texture, the color, the form. You can see it.
That last point matters more than it might seem. The conversation around sustainable design has a credibility problem right now. Too many products wear their eco-credentials as a badge without earning them through actual material and process decisions. REBORN PULP earns it. The sustainability isn’t a layer added on top. It’s the whole premise, and the design thinking follows from there rather than working around it.
Whether REBORN PULP finds its way into homes, offices, or commercial spaces beyond Japan remains to be seen. But as a piece of thinking, it’s the kind of design that makes the field feel purposeful again. Old paper, turned into something that quiets a room and looks like a zen garden doing it. That’s not a bad outcome for something that was headed for the recycling bin.
With the popularity of fast fashion, there is also a lot of textile waste that ends up in landfills and have not been recycled or upcycled. There are several groups that have been advocating for more eco-friendly fashion that includes not supporting these kinds of manufacturers and looking for ways to have better use for household textile waste. You don’t even have to create new clothes from them but find other uses outside of fashion.
Designer Name: Sze Tjin Yek
The Sorbet acoustic panels is one such project, turning all these shredded textile waste into acoustic panels that can be used for homes, offices, and other commercial spaces. Panels like these are important to minimize noise pollution within closed areas for both the mental and physical health of users. But instead of the usual acoustic panels made from open cell polyurethane, these are made textile waste which have the second lowest recovery rate in Australia after plastics.
These panels are made from 100% laundered and upcycled household textile waste. These are durable enough but of course they need to be bonded together and the inventor used a starch-based glue. And since the textile used have different colors and textures, there are three aesthetic options created: Blueberry Lemonade (blue and gold), Red Velvet (red and black(, and Hundreds and Thousands. The third one uses more color options since textiles are of course varied.
This kind of panel is of course more sustainable than your usual ones that use recycled PET and textile fibers bonded with mycelium. The next step would be to create a process that can make this commercially viable and also look at installation methods for it.
Good acoustics is important in any design, and it is important to plan for this right from the start of a project, from designing to building it. Note that if a building is designed well with good acoustic design, it can make people feel better mentally and physically. This is because, loud noises can make people stressed, and anxious, and raise their blood pressure, leading to health problems.
According to studies, noise pollution presents a significant risk to people’s health, especially for those living and working in urban settings. While controlling noise at its origin isn’t always feasible, effective soundproofing of buildings can provide a valuable solution. Installing soundproofing materials in the roof or building exterior can greatly reduce external noise from sources like traffic or airplanes. Within buildings, insulation can improve privacy and mitigate disturbance from neighboring properties, such as music or footsteps from upstairs apartments. This is particularly advantageous when applied to partitions between different spaces in residential or office buildings. Utilizing sound insulation boards can help minimize noise intrusion in both living and working environments.
What are the various forms of sound propagation?
Image courtesy of: photovs
Building acoustics studies how sound travels through walls, ceilings, and roofs, with insulation needs determined by factors such as area size and the types of sound transmission, whether direct or through walls.
• Direct sound transmission involves sound passing directly through a wall, ceiling, or floor.
• Flanking noise is the noise that reaches a room through an indirect path. For example, it could be noise from a neighboring apartment reaching your bedroom through a route other than through the shared wall, or noise from a hallway reaching your office through a route other than through the door.
• Other forms of sound transmission include leakage through inadequately sealed doors and windows, brickwork, and uninsulated pipelines.
Image courtesy of: bilanol
What are the best materials for acoustic insulation?
Discover the top materials that are suitable for acoustic insulation.
Acoustic Panels and Treatments
Soundproofing involves the use of acoustic panels and treatments to absorb and minimize sound waves, reducing resonance and unwanted noise. It’s crucial in places like recording studios, theaters, and restaurants. Different styles, like foam panels and diffusers, cater to various acoustic needs.
Alberto Sánchez and Mut Design Studio innovate with Beetle Acoustic Panels, drawing from the insect world for design inspiration. These panels, shaped like beetle exoskeletons, offer a range of colors and sizes, transforming utilitarian sound absorption into artistic accents. Despite lacking spines like beetles, a central spine connects the panels, emphasizing symmetry. This experiment showcases creativity’s boundless nature and encourages finding inspiration in unexpected places, sparking joy with quirky shapes and vibrant colors.
Working from home has introduced a whole new routine, but one annoyance is listening to my husband’s constant office meetings. The noise is distracting, even with closed doors. Tempo offers a solution—a modular wall and ceiling baffle system that doubles as art. With 12 customizable modules, it absorbs sound and adds visual flair to any room. Easy to install with a CNC dowel system and cork plugs, Tempo’s various colors and patterns allow for endless combinations. It’s like acoustic eye candy, perfect for home offices, conference rooms, or bedrooms, transforming spaces both visually and acoustically with the ease of IKEA’s modularity and the trendy Japandi aesthetic.
Echo panels are gaining significance in room acoustics, now integral to interior design. Kirei introduces its sustainable Kirei Air Baffle, drawing inspiration from Nike Air Max, to enhance sound in high-ceiling spaces. Utilizing recycled PET EchoPanel material filled with Nike Grind fluff, these baffles come in various models and sizes, improving acoustic performance and adding aesthetic value. With customization options in 33 colors and easy installation, they contribute to a softer room ambiance and sound, elevating the functionality and aesthetics of any space with Kirei’s architectural design elements.
The Kirei Air Baffle, an overhead acoustic panel, enhances sound quality in high-ceilinged spaces. What sets it apart, beyond its superior sound performance, is its sustainability. Even in the realm of acoustics, sustainability is achievable with the use of environmentally conscious materials.
Acoustic Foam
Acoustic foam panels, renowned for their porous and lightweight design, excel at absorbing sound waves. They’re particularly favored for reducing reverberation and controlling noise levels in settings like media rooms, music studios, and home offices.
Double Glass
Double-glazed windows with acoustic laminated glass are highly effective in reducing external noise, including car and street noise, making them perfect for urban environments. They offer a great alternative for soundproofing both homes and offices. Note that Double-glazed windows are made out of two glass panes separated by Argon gas. This specific gas is a poor thermal conductor. As a result, the sound or heat does not pass through the second glass pane and into the other side of the window.
Mineral Wool
Image courtesy of: bilanol
Made from mineral wool extracted from minerals, this material provides powerful sound insulation. It’s not only a thermal insulator but also commonly utilized in wall cavities, ceilings, and other spaces to minimize noise transfer between rooms.
Glass Wool
Glass wool, also called fiberglass insulation, serves as a popular choice for thermal insulation. Its effective sound absorption properties also make it cost-effective for soundproofing purposes. It’s commonly applied to walls and ceilings to provide dual insulation services.
Textile
Textile-based sound-absorbing materials like heavy curtains, carpets, and fabric-wrapped panels are commonly found in quiet-seeking homes and offices. Beyond their noise-reducing function, they also contribute to the visual appeal of their surroundings.
In modern office settings, privacy remains vital despite open layouts. Milan-based Claudio Bellini design studio addresses this with FP7, acoustic panels serving as both dividers and noise absorbers. Specifically for open offices, FP7 visually delineates private areas while absorbing sound. Available in various colors, these panels create a cohesive look. Made from embedded cushioning and soft fabric, they offer flexibility in arrangement to suit different privacy needs. A finalist at the 2021 iF Design Awards, FP7 seamlessly integrates with contemporary office culture, providing private spaces for discussions and collaboration.
In sustainable design, Jonas Edvard is known for his innovative use of organic materials to create functional and attractive objects. His latest creation, the Myx Sail / Floor panel, showcased at the 2023 Mindcraft Project, is made from mushroom mycelium, hemp, and willow. This 1m x 1m panel not only shows the strength of composite biomaterials but also reflects Edvard’s commitment to responsible design.
Consider acoustic panels for your office or co-working space when soundproofing isn’t an option. They reduce noise and can serve as room dividers. Baux, a Swedish brand, prioritizes sustainability by using recycled PET plastic and virgin plastic for binding. The panels, with a felt-like texture, undergo a process of chipping, melting, and binding for effective sound absorption. Available in various sizes and colors, they offer both functionality and minimalistic design.
Mycelium, nature’s hidden strength, finds diverse applications from cooking to construction. Italy-based Mogu’s Foresta System ingeniously combines mycelium with upcycled textiles to create modular acoustic panels, perfect for home building and furnishing. These panels easily attach to a timber frame, featuring integrated magnets for effortless assembly and disassembly. Foresta’s innovative use of mycelium earned it the 2022 German Design Award for its eco-conscious and circular design, highlighting Mogu’s dedication to sustainability.
In the dynamic world of sustainable design, Jonas Edvard stands out with his innovative approach to integrating organic materials into functional and aesthetically pleasing objects. His latest creation, the Myx Sail / Floor, unveiled at the Mindcraft Project 2023, is a sound-absorbing panel that showcases the remarkable properties of mushroom mycelium, hemp, and willow. This 1m x 1m panel not only exemplifies the structural possibilities of composite biomaterials but also represents Edvard’s commitment to responsible design practices.
The Myx Sail / Floor project is a testament to Jonas Edvard’s dedication to exploring the symbiotic relationship between design choices and their impact on nature. Collaborating with a living material – mushroom mycelium – throughout the design and production process, Edvard creates a flexible room divider within a pre-designed mold. As the mycelium gradually grows and bonds with a plant fiber mixture, the panel takes shape, marrying flexibility with rigidity.
The designer draws inspiration from the natural role of mushrooms as recycling agents, breaking down plant matter into soil. His design philosophy revolves around a deep respect for nature, evident in his exploration of the intricate relationship between raw materials and human life. The Myx Sail / Floor prototype serves as a modular design that aims to emphasize how organic materials like mycelium can seamlessly integrate into our living and working spaces.
Jonas Edvard’s broader research study, conducted in collaboration with Arup Engineers in Germany, delves into the sound-absorbing qualities of mycelium. The panels are meticulously designed to absorb frequencies between 200 and 2500 Hz – the standard range of human conversation and interaction (same as glass wool). Edvard envisions the potential for natural, organic materials to become integral components of our buildings and interior architecture, contributing to a more sustainable life cycle.
The design philosophy revolves around responsible design choices and their impact on nature. His open-minded approach to design leads to experiments that yield new materials and objects from local or organic sources, often embracing a circular and sustainable ethos. In his testing phase, Edvard explores various material combinations to understand the design, appearance, and functionality of mycelium-based sound-absorbing material.
The Myx Sail / Floor sound-absorbing panel invites people to touch and feel the natural qualities of mushroom mycelium, hemp, and willow. Edvard aims to create an immersive experience, allowing individuals to sense the porous, lightweight, and stiff characteristics of the materials. By reshaping these materials into functional forms, he hopes to spark conversations about the value and aesthetics of natural origins, encouraging a new understanding of how these materials can be incorporated into our homes and living areas. Now the acoustic installation won’t just be on the walls and ceilings conventionally, but the floors too!
The Myx Sail / Floor is more than just a sound-absorbing panel – it is a tangible embodiment of sustainable design principles and a testament to the possibilities that arise when designers collaborate with nature. As Edvard continues to push the boundaries of material innovation, his work inspires the integration of organic, natural materials into our built environment, fostering a harmonious relationship between design and the natural world.
