Hydro's exhibition presents aluminium objects sourced and crafted within a 100-kilometre radius

Promotion: Sabine Marcelis and Daniel Rybakken are among the designers exhibiting aluminium-based furniture and home decor as part of Hydro's exhibition at Milan design week 2025.

Aluminium and renewable energy company Hydro's R100 exhibition was constructed from 100 per cent post-consumer aluminium, including its objects, podiums and displays.

The exhibition showcased five designs crafted within a self-imposed limit of a 100-kilometre radius, from locally sourced post-consumer scrap to finished design objects.

The exhibition took place at Capsule Plaza – Spazio Maiocchi in Milan and follows up on Hydro's 2024 exhibition named 100R, where the brand launched Hydro Circal 100R – the first industrial-scale aluminium made from post-consumer scrap.

By containing the entire project within a 100-kilometre radius, Hydro aimed to focus its attention on transportation emissions within the design industry. The result is a 90 per cent reduction in transportation emissions compared to its 2024 project, according to Hydro.

The concept was devised by designer Lars Beller Fjetland, who directed the project and curated the exhibition.

As part of the exhibition, five new pieces were displayed by designers Marcelis and Rybakken as well as Stefan Diez, Keiji Takeuchi and Cecilie Manz.

Marcelis presented Orbit Light, which is designed to resemble a "celestial body in motion" and gets its name from how light moves across its curved surface.

Japanese furniture designer Takeuchi featured Profil – a versatile outdoor furniture collection that snaps into place while German designer Stefan Diez's BOSS bin is "a thoughtful approach to waste management".

Also showcased was Rør, an aluminium decorative tube by Danish furniture designer Manz that aims to explore "the myriad of possibilities inherent in the material", while Norwegian designer Daniel Rybakken exhibited Fields, a sculpture made of industrially produced components.

Hydro explained that the designers were selected for their distinct design methodologies, and the exhibition presents their collection of diverse aluminium pieces, from furniture to home decor.

The designers were offered total freedom to create their designs, with no limitations on product size or typology, according to Hydro.

For the project, Hydro harvested 52 tons of aluminium scrap for the designers to use from demolished greenhouses and decommissioned street light poles in the Benelux region.

"This is urban mining put into practice," said Hydro Extrusions director of marketing and communications Asle Forsbak. "Working with small manufacturing clusters, which is not unique to R100 but typical for how Hydro works with our customers, allows for full traceability of material, from scrap to final product."

The brand presented its 100R exhibition at Milan design week and London Design Festival in 2024, which first showcased the brand's Hydro Circal 100R aluminium alloy.

Seven designers participated in utilising the material to create works of art, including Andreas Engesvik, Inga Sempé, John Tree, Max Lamb, Philippe Malouin, Shane Schneck and Rachel Griffin.

Hydro's R100 exhibition is an extension of the 100R exhibition and examines "every tiny part of the product manufacturing chain with the same emission-obsessed mindset as Hydro approaches the material itself".

Hydro is an aluminium and renewable energy company that has over 32,000 employees in more than 42 countries.

According to Hydro, it has the world's largest global aluminium extrusion-based solutions operation, counting 70 production sites across 40 countries.

Extrusion is a manufacturing process where base metal is forced through a pre-shaped die to create objects with a specific shape. As the aluminium passes through the die, its shape changes into the die's shape.

To learn more about the brand and the exhibition, visit its website.

Photography is by Einar Aslaksen.

Hydro's R100 exhibition takes place from 7 to 13 April 2025 at Capsule Plaza, Spazio Maiocchi, Via Achille Maiocchi 7, Milan, Italy as part of Milan design festival. See our Milan design festival 2025 guide on Dezeen Events Guide for information about the many other exhibitions, installations and talks that are taking place throughout the week.

Partnership content

This article was written by Dezeen for Hydro as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.

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