An Indian Designer Creating Sustainable Furniture With Recycled Cardboard

An Indian Designer Creating Sustainable Furniture With Recycled Cardboard

Oftentimes, we stumble upon a question that shifts perspectives in our lives. The age-old “When was the last time you tried something for the first time?” is one that allows us to pause and think about the journeys we have embarked on and where they have led us. For Mumbai-based designer Bandana Jain, this was a question that helped define some of the most pivotal phases of her life and career.

Hailing from Thakurganj in Bihar, young Bandana Jain became the first woman in her family to leave the confines of her secluded home in Bihar to Mumbai where she eventually set up her art and design practice.

The journey led her into exploring a craft and medium that was unknown and still largely unexplored by the community. Using corrugated cardboard, Jain experimented with furniture design in her own home upon arriving in Mumbai. Designing her first chair that was designed and executed in not more than 4000 rupees, Bandana realised the potential that recycled cardboard as a material could possess in rethinking art, design and architecture.

She then embarked on a journey around Mumbai’s junk and scrap yards in search of a material that is so widely available but very difficult to use within the ambit of her craft. Years of research and study allowed Bandana to establish a successful design practice that won her accolades and even global recognition in the design arena.

Seven years since the inception of her independent design studio, ‘Sylvn Studio’, Bandana has launched a vast range of products that include sofas, murals, sculptures and more that intersect sustainability, style and robustness.

Bandana has also recently launched the Bandana Jain Studio in Worli, Mumbai, making it India’s very first cardboard art studio to encourage awareness and proliferation of her artform and medium.

Follow Sylvn Studio here.

Follow Bandana’s journey here.

If you enjoyed reading this, we also suggest:

Related Stories

No stories found.
logo
Homegrown
homegrown.co.in