What if IKEA’s cardboard packaging could become a fancy stool? Encouraging upcycling, Xiang Guan made a proposal for Ikea’s Hilver table cardboard-packaging. Using the table’s corrugated cardboard, the packaging is bound together with a rubber band instead of glue. This way the assemble becomes convenient, preventing from unnecessary waste. Instructions are printed directly on the cardborad, in the form of an origami guideline.

We know him from his Symbiotic Objects experimental collection, where furniture only functions through human interaction (more images in gallery). Xiang Guan is an independent designer and Central Saint Martins’ graduate that considers the collateral aspects of furniture making and design, from furniture waste to space saving. ‘The stool’ was designed for extreme modularity and material optimization. It features a bent, tubular steel frame paired with an oak wood seat held together with just one bolt. The stools can be stacked together when not in use to reduce unnecessary clutter.