With an annual collection of 2.8 million kg of goods, Foundation Kringloopbedrijf ‘Het Warenhuis’ in Leiden is one of the largest in the Netherlands. The assumption that all these items will get a new home, can be swept off the table. A significant part of the large influx of items turns out to be of too low a quality or is not even marketable and will be removed or destroyed. That should be done differently, and it is for this reason why Popma ter Steege Architecten and buro bordo came up with an idea to find new ways to reuse.
Designers Jurgen Bey, Nienke Hoogvliet, Max Lipsey and Fraser McPhee are linked to the recycling company to investigate one of the waste streams that are not sold or recycled. With the surplus of usable material, the designers design a product that will be produced in the social workshops of the recycling company. In addition, Raw Color was asked to develop the visual identity and corporate identity in the project. In November 2020, the new concept store and gallery for circular design opened in Leiden: the Circular Department Store.
Four museums in Leiden
In the Circular Department Store, in addition to the prototypes of the four designers also other examples of reuse are shown. The Circular Department Store has partnered with Museum De Lakenhal, Rijksmuseum Boerhaave, Museum Volkenkunde and Rijksmuseum van Oudheden. Centuries-old objects from their collections are presented in the exhibition; they show that reuse is of all times and all cultures. The examples of the museums tie the whole story together as a connecting one.
Photos: Cassander Eeftinck Schattenkerk
