Reuse: hand-stitched notebooks for sustainability

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Institutional Communication Service

18 November 2019

Marie Wichard is an eco-conscious Master student at USI Academy of Architecture. She always reused scrap paper from plotters as sketch pads and now she decided to use it to make hand-stitched notebooks. An idea of creative reuse to reduce waste.

"The idea came up randomly" - Marie tells us - "I wanted to print and bind my own portfolio, so I became familiar with the technique used for sewing books". Soon Marie realised that she had everything she needed to produce handmade notebooks: a lot of coloured cardboard from the leftovers from a friend's graduation project, ideal to make covers, and the scrap paper of the plotters for the pages inside. More importantly, it felt good knowing that nothing was going to waste.

"Sewing notebooks has become almost a ritual for me, a moment to break away from everyday life and leave room for thought: I like the idea of producing something beautiful, an object that you hold in your hand with care and delight. The idea and the technique I use are simple, but the notebooks become a personal object that is connected to the Academy and to the time everyone spends there. The notebooks are on sale at the Atelier Nido in Mendrisio, a small design and onigiri shop run by two architects and assistants from the Academy. Those interested in the project can contact Marie Wichard by e-mail: [email protected].

Students at the Academy are becoming more environmentally conscious: just a few weeks back the news about Project “R(i)OSA” on the reuse of surplus materials from production of models was released.   

 

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