Mater – Ocean Bench, 157 X 58 Cm, Green

Bench made of steel and recycled fishing nets

The Ocean Bench from Mater is part of a series of tables and chairs designed by Nanna Ditzel back in 1955. As a new edition, classic, Danish furniture is reinterpreted from recycled plastic from the sea. The bench is available in different lengths and consists of a steel frame with burnished finish and table tops made of recycled fishing nets and hard plastic. The bench is suitable for indoor as well as outdoor use and provides a modern and linear look indoors as well as outdoors.

Recycled plastic from our oceans

Mater uses recycled plastic for the bench from Danish cleantech company Plastix, one of the world’s only mechanical recycling companies. Plastix transforms discarded fishing nets, trawls, ropes and other products from plastic waste into valuable recycled plastic raw material called “Green Plastics.” Before being processed into Green Plastics’ recycled beads, the fishing nets are sorted, analyzed and cleaned before being turned into pellets in the final step. The plastic beads are later liquefied and injected into a mold so they can serve as flexible table slats for the Ocean bench.

From the Ditzels’ archive

Originally manufactured by Kolds Savværk until the late 1950s, the furniture pieces were initially designed for the Ditzels’ personal use. The first design from 1955 consisted of steel frames and wood veneer pieces. The new editions were enlarged by five percent to fit modern proportions. Simple forms and the lightness of the series embody the Ditzels’ design sensibility, which was at once precise, practical and playful.

Together with Dennie Ditzel, Mater searched the Ditzels’ archive. When reissued, the series helps reduce plastic waste and achieve points 12, 14, 15 and 17 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.