FREI-CYCLE Design Fair
Mid-September 2014 the FREI-CYCLE Design Fair for Recycling & Upcycling was held in Freiburg, Germany, for the second time. Nestled in the BADEN MESSE the FREI-CYCLE opened its doors to an international audience from Germany, France and Switzerland. The nearly 80 exhibitors from seven countries presented a great upcycling diversity at a high level.
As a visitor you could admire and purchase products and ideas from all different walks of life. From a variety of used materials, there were bags, accessories, decoration, art and design, fashion, jewelry, furniture, lamps and other housing elements. As last year, Lisa Vöhringer organized the event well and put together a great selection of labels. So the exhibitors ranging from small start-ups to renowned label of the upcycling design scene, delighted, informed and inspired the number of interested people.
The exhibition was supplemented by a varied program. In the workshops of RUFFBOARDS the younger visitors were given an insight into the production of custom longboards from used snowboards. On a DIY booth you could experiment with used bicycle inner tubes. Live music and a café with delicious cakes and fair-trade coffee made for a relaxed atmosphere. In the interview lounge various designers informed about their work and visions.
As a juror, I had together with Max Zorn and Sonny Vika the challenging task to choose the top three of the many wonderful labels of FREI-CYCLE. It seemed to me almost impossible, because I was very enthusiastic about many products, labels and the stories behind. We had the closest match on the jury finally with the three winners:
1st place: Blues Bones – stringed instruments from cigar boxes
2nd place: UPSOLUT – lamps from discarded inch sticks
3rd place: We heart Mari – bags from recycled materials and high quality leather scraps
The FREI-CYCLE price by the public voting were the makers of GLIFS, light glass objects combined with old beams.
My FREI-CYCLE favorites:
- Fallblatt: short films from display boards of Deutsche Bahn
- Blues Bones: stringed instruments from old cigar boxes
- UPSOLUT: lamps from discarded inch sticks
- Fesch with Trash: Jewelry from Bottle Caps
- Bal Designs: bags made of old basketballs / Lithuania
- Milchmeer ecobags: Bags of rice and cement bags
- Ralph Aichner upcycling: Cans Lights
- Wildwechsel: magnetic boards from scrap metal
- Geldkluft: bags wetsuits
- Radlbazi: Upcycling design elements from old bicycle
- 2nd Flight: jackets from old parachutes
- Andercover: Handmade furniture made of wood production residues
- Lumikello: Crochet Home Accessories from T-Shirts
- Pressbag: bags pond liner, Banners