All aboard

LOUL É -BASED CARLA MARTINS AND GUSTAVO ARGUELLO ARE GRAPHIC AND PRODUCT DESIGNERS WHO HARBOUR A DREAM OF CHANGING CONSUMER ATTITUDES TO FAST GOODS – FURNITURE IN THEIR CASE – AND ARE LOOKING TO PUT CARDBOARD FIRMLY ON THE MAP

Words: LUCY MAYER

CARLA AND GUSTAVO are speaking to me via zoom from their home in Loulé, proudly sitting beside their impressive 3D printer which is just as much of a star of the pieces they create as are the designers themselves.

They spent seven years in Milan and six years in London, both working on branding and packaging for various companies, from a Brazilian mineral water to the most iconic Italian brands, but they always wanted to find ways to make the packaging more sustainable with different ways of producing it, like with a 3D printer.

But, as they tell me, the world was not ready for their ideas. It wasn’t so much of a cost problem but rather a time problem: the companies they were pitching to wanted more products and faster. All the while the pair were living and working in Milan, Gustavo, who describes himself as an inventor who loves Lego and learned his trade from his grandfather, was working on getting the couple’s first product ready for sale.

In 2012, Plicopá was born. Plico is Latin for ‘to fold’ and Opa is an expression of surprise. This highly attractive, eco-friendly case-stand worked as a support for the iPad, and what’s more, it was created from cardboard.

The wrong time

The Plicopá, as Gustavo shows me, was sturdy, neat and protective with a beautiful Londoncentric, eye-catching design by Carla. You could slip your iPad in if you wanted to carry it around, and then, when you wanted to use it, manoeuvre the cardboard folds into position and use the iPad exactly as you normally would for working, viewing and charging.

Buoyed by their pride for the product, Carla and Gustavo began crowdfunding to try and launch it on a wider scale; however, the desired amount that would enable them to manufacture Plicopá was not reached; Italy at the time was among the countries hit hardest by the recession of 2008-2009.

Carla and Gustavo’s next adventure saw them head to London, a long-held ambition, where they continued to promote Plicopá, launching it in September 2013 during the London Design Festival.

It was a “cool experience” according to Gustavo, meeting with investors and showcasing Plicopá. But the product, he concedes, was too early for the market. They found that lots of prospective clients still wanted to use leather or plastic, which ultimately went against their core beliefs of sustainability.

In 2015 Gustavino was created and launched through a kickstarter campaign. They designed the modular wine rack on the computer and watched it come to life right before their eyes via the 3D printer. After London, it was back to Portugal, and the Algarve, where they finally settled in Loulé in 2019 and began to think about how their products could change the mind-set of the Portuguese people when it came to recycling and reusing.

The right place

The past few years have been a whirlwind of seminars, webinars, designing and creating, which is what has ultimately led them to their residency at Loulé Design

Lab, which is part of the Loulé Criativo initiative. Through the Lab, they were commissioned by Inframoura, the public waste and utilities company in Vilamoura, to come up with a brief to create something made out of the objects that people had dumped, that would bring both the elderly and children together. This would be the Infinity Project – but more of that in our May edition.

After that came another contract, this time featuring the material they loved working with – cardboard – at the Loulé Med Fest.

The council commissioned them to create furniture for the four-day event which is where they came up with their cardboard chairs. They were such a huge success, and ultimately led to them being invited to showcase their range in Ikea Loulé, alongside other Design Lab talents.

Carla and Gustavo went about creating customised one-off pieces, including a floor lamp and a coffee table using Ikea cardboard. People were stunned by how comfortable and sturdy the furniture was, even though the chairs that also made up the Ikea showcase had featured at a four-day outside event and had been subjected to the elements.

Gustavo raves about cardboard. He emphasises how much it is in our lives already from packaging for the products we order online to the insides of doors. This proves, he says, that it is a “super material,” built to withstand and protect, and that’s why it’s perfect for creating furniture.

The fact that it’s also highly sustainable is a major plus. People have “lost their connection with the objects they buy,” Carla tells me. “That’s why we are in this mess” Gustavo adds. I ask them to elaborate and their answer rings undeniably true and is something we can all agree with, and it’s this: “If you buy something for €1, it’s easy to throw away. You don’t create a connection with it. But once you have created a connection with an item through a process, you will keep it for longer as you are attached to it.”

Carla and Gustavo both agree that nature is the best source of inspiration for any design solution. They are keen to promote the concept of the Circular Economy, a model of production and consumption that involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products for as long as possible. Commissions come in from corporate and government clients, which allows materials to move around the local area, which can be achieved through proper recycling methods.

The best is yet to come

After more than 20 years in the design business, Carla and Gustavo say they have “big dreams” of helping people live more sustainable lifestyles while enjoying beautiful and practical, hardwearing furniture. Take their cardboard chair for example. Asked if it would brave snow, Gustavo’s answer is “probably not”, but then not many creations would. But the furniture he creates in the Algarve will withstand the odd rain shower, and more crucially, unlike plastic counterparts, once it is deemed no longer fit for purpose, it can easily be recycled and repurposed. The aim is for the furniture to eventually biodegrade and not be left as a reminder of a consumer society.

Carla and Gustavo have created so many pieces that they were unable to tell me which one was their favourite to design, but Gustavo, a future architect, has a lifelong ambition to create a house made out of cardboard. They have already created most of the furniture that could go into said house. And both are optimistic that they will make this dream a reality and that others will one day be able to follow their lead. I for one am absolutely confident that their vision is the way of the future.