What's your story, tell me...?

Many of AV's customers and followers are familiar with and exposed to the brand's design language, style, quality, and functionality of its products. But many are unaware of what lies behind the products, what their added value is, what the valuable, green, and important story is that AV has made it its mission to promote and engage with.

So, the penny dropped for me a little late :) and I realized that it is appropriate and necessary for me to tell the story behind the essence of the studio, the essence of AV's products.

AV studio deals with "super recycling" or the sexier name Upcycling (it sounds better in English :) )

What is the difference between recycling and upcycling?:

In the recycling process, a product or waste of a certain material undergoes a complex processing procedure. At the end of such a process, a completely new, lower-quality raw material is created, which is used to produce products fundamentally different from the original product.

For example, plastic bottles, which after a recycling process become new materials. One of them is fleece fabric, used in the textile industry.

Upcycling is essentially the reuse and improvement of the same product or material, without the need for a processing procedure. Like an old car tire becoming a coffee table, or old Louis Vuitton merchandise changing its appearance and becoming a new and different leather goods brand.

This way, we save the polluting processing procedure itself and gain new products that prevent us from purchasing additional material that will also become waste in the future. Significantly, the upcycling process is more environmentally friendly.

So how does this happen in practice?

We work in cooperation with various Corian factories, the main one being the Corian factory of Regba kitchens - where it all started, as a native of Regba who grew up against the backdrop of the factory.

Corian factories produce work surfaces for kitchens, wall coverings, counters, sanitary surfaces for hospitals, and more for heavy industry… At the end of production, small pieces - waste - remain and accumulate in tons. These pieces are buried in the ground and essentially cause soil pollution,

And this is where AV comes in, with a vision to make a change: instead of sending the waste for landfill, these pieces are collected by us and we breathe new life into them. We cut them to relevant sizes, heat them, glue them, saw them, engrave them, sand them, and create luxurious items for the home and office, sometimes combining additional materials, while maintaining the connection between the values of the design world and environmental values, thus "saving" Corian from landfill, the soil from pollution, and our customers enjoy elegant and designed products. This is how waste from a hotel lobby counter becomes unique Shabbat candlesticks.

We have no control over the amount of material that will arrive, nor over the colors and sizes. Therefore, to create certainty within uncertainty, our products come in the same form but in varying and non-committal colors.

White Corian is the most common for industrial use, so waste is regularly collected from it, and therefore our products will first and foremost come in white. In addition to the classic white series, we have created changing collections according to colors, different textures, and limited series. Imagine what happens in the studio when waste in a rare and special color arrives - the excitement is at its peak :)

The most luxurious series is the "Art" candlestick series, made of Corian in special, uncommon colors, in a mosaic form, through a complex and lengthy design process, which is almost impossible to replicate and repeat the sequence created in it.

Throughout the design and production process, we are very careful to maintain the quality of the products and their finish, to make intelligent use of Corian, to constantly explore the material and emphasize its inherent beauty, to maintain innovative, less routine, and no less important - green design thinking.

I believe that as an industrial designer, I have a responsibility to work in a more respectful and economical way with raw materials, while considering the environment and the future of the planet. Many designers before me, in Israel and around the world, have adopted this line of thought, and a design trend is emerging that is gaining momentum.

The year 2020 has shown us, emphasized and empowered us, more than ever, this importance - the outlook on the future and the regard for nature.