At the London Design Festival, the Bank of England Museum’s „Reconstructing Value” pop-up offers a unique opportunity to literally sit on a fortune, transforming £2.5 million in withdrawn banknotes into sculptural benches. Designed by Saskia Boersma in collaboration with Surface Matter and Plasticiet, these benches echo the pound sign (£) while challenging conventional notions of value. The process involves shredding old currency and reconstituting the fibers with a proprietary plasticiser, preserving the original hues and security patterns in durable sheets. Surface Matter enhances these with complementary materials like roman mosaic tiles and patinated brass, reflecting the Bank’s historic interiors and bridging past and present aesthetics.
Saskia Boersma’s playful design approach turns these benches into both functional furniture and public art, with curved forms that visually outline the £ symbol from above. Installed in the museum’s historic Stock Room—once a space for vaults and ledgers—they redefine the area as a hub for social interaction. Beyond their artistic appeal, the project addresses environmental concerns by diverting banknote paper from landfills, showcasing a circular economy model where discarded money gains new life. Plasticiet’s low-impact plasticiser ensures durability and a soft texture, aligning with the festival’s focus on sustainable innovation and positioning the museum as a lab for post-waste solutions.
The installation is part of a broader narrative that includes lunchtime talks and material displays, where Surface Matter presents recycled surface palettes inspired by the bank’s color schemes. These elements encourage designers and the public to rethink value through material choices and repurposing everyday objects. In a city steeped in tradition, this project uses heritage as a springboard for forward-thinking design, sparking conversations about sustainability and the fluid nature of value—demonstrating how creative intervention can reshape, revalue, and give new purpose to what we discard.
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Forrás: https://www.yankodesign.com/2025/09/22/reconstructing-value-turns-banknotes-into-benches/.