Broom chair (Emeco)

Broom by Starck for Emeco, 2012

Philippe Starck and Emeco have joined forces to work towards zero waste. A design collaboration that both avoids and eliminates waste, the Broom chair combines intelligent materiality with beautiful form.

“The elegance of the minimum comes from the intelligence of the nothing. Mies Van der Rohe said 'less is more'. Okay it's right, but why choose?  With this chair we can say "less and more." Because we choose to make less - less style, less design, less material, less energy and finally we have more.” Philippe Starck

Broom introduces an entirely new chair material composite, combining reclaimed polypropylene and discarded wood fiber. Made from a compound of industry waste from lumber factories and industrial plastic plants,this material has a three-fold environmental impact. Less energy, less waste and less carbon.

In most manufacturing there is waste. Ends and pieces of plastic and wood are discarded and thrown away. Imagine a new material that sweeps up this waste, combines it, and makes something strong and smart and beautiful. The result is the Broom chair. It has a past life as industrial waste and a future as a chair in your life.