The downsides of a ‘wipe-clean world’

The downsides of a ‘wipe-clean world’ Getty Images/ Peter Stackpole When it first emerged in design, plastic embodied progress, glamour and convenience. In the exhibition Plastic: Remaking Our World, the Vitra Design Museum explores how plastic became so omnipresent, and encourages us to think about more considerate production and use. Vitra Design Museum/ Jürgen Hans The iconic 1963 Pallo Chair by Finnish designer Eero Aarnio is displayed at Vitra's exhibition, Plastics: Remaking Our World Celluloid, for example, was initially invented as an alternative to ivory, which was in high demand for billiard balls during the 19th Century. In the 1960s, there was this really positive vibe about plastics, and now we find this positive spirit in the many attempts to try to tackle the problem – Jochen Eisenbrand "The future of plastics is in the trash can," declared Lloyd Stouffer, editor of Modern Packaging magazine, in 1956. Stedelijk Museum Glass made of jagua, a waste product from goldmining, is used in recent work by Simón Ballen Botero Experimental projects that use bioplastics are also on display, and Pinatih thinks some have real potential, such as the interior panels created by the architect and designer Mae-Ling Lokko.