El Arce Imaginario Handmade Workshop
Basic information
Project Title
Full project title
Category
Project Description
El Arce Imaginario is a registered handmade workshop where objects are made from broken skateboards to give them a new life. Principally objects made for the home (bowls, cutting boards, lamps, spoons, honeyjars...) from different types of natural wood. A large part of this wood comes from trees that fell in a storm, and also PEFC certified pine to make small furniture and childrens toys. The skateboards are collected trading a keychain for each one, to people who want to get rid of them.
Project Region
EU Programme or fund
Description of the project
Summary
El Arce Imaginario is a handmade workshop which works with sustainabily sourced materials to bring functional and decorative designs into your home. The majority of the products are one of a kind, or personalized to meet the specific needs of the client. The end result is conceptualized of repurposing materials that would otherwise be wasted.
This project is composed of a physical store and workshop combination located in the city center of A Coruña, Spain. The central location serves as both a point of contact with the public and workshop to produce the pieces. Clients may enter the shop during open hours, or schedule a private appointment to discuss their needs for personalized products / furniture or purchase finished products from the store section.
In addition to using fallen trees from windstorms as a source of material, we also make sustainable furniture using PEFC certified pine, and a range of other smaller products made from broken or used skateboards.
Having attended a bi-weekly ecological market in the city center for several years, we have established a following and have made a name for ourselves here in A Coruña. We have worked with a number of small businesses to offer solutions for sustainable and ecologically friendly furniture / displays, serving trays, boxes, bowls, lamps, signs and more. We work with the client to understand their needs and provide personalized solutions.
Key objectives for sustainability
The initial objective of the project was to create a space to elaborate and sell locally sourced natural wood and recycled skateboard products; creating unique, one of a kind designs not found in other places. This objective was quickly met. Soon after we established new processes which enable us to use trees that fall from windstorms, to make large bowls, lamps and other products, which is now the majority of the wood used in the products available in the store.
We have also sourced PEFC certified pine, meaning it´s harvested in a respectful way to the environment. This wood is used in the majority of furniture and childrens toys.
I´ve sourced used and broken skateboards by trading a keychain for each broken board, offering this trade through skateboard schools, skateboard shops and with local skateboarders who want to get rid of their old and used boards.
Key objectives for aesthetics and quality
It´s a rewarding experience to work with like minded people, focused on sustainability as we share the same perspective about caring for our environment. We have achieved several milestones in quality of experience by displaying work in some of the most prestegious events in our region, such as Mostrart, (organized by AGA the highly regarded association of artesans in Galicia, Spain) have sent work to Stolkhom, Sweeden to participate in an international event called formex, and participated in Mercado de los motores in Madrid, Spain.
Other objectives that have been met, which are in line with quality and aesthetics are the certification of the workshop as a non industrial space (an artisanal workshop) and how we have recently joined AGA, an association of artesans in Galicia, Spain who represent a high caliber of craftsmanship and pride in their work.
We strive for quality in every piece and have maintained the objective of not industrializing our processes. We attend the needs of our clients and offer them the most appropriate solutions based on the materials that we offer.
We have collaborated with other brands / stores to emphasize the importance of reusing materials. We also demonstrate this in our store, by dedicating one half of the space to products made from recycled skateboards, while the other half is made from both sustainably sourced and natural wood products. We have made promotional products for other sustainable brands / events
Key objectives for inclusion
Since the beginning of the project our objective was to establish a presence in the market and establish a local sustainable business that maintains itself. We have reached this objective after three years of implementation.
The new objectives are to continue expand the business and demonstrate the core values of sustainablity and reusing wasted resources. Also to aquire more robust machinery, purchase a permenent workspace and work with municipal gardeners to aquire fallen trees due to storms.
Our fundemental objectives remain the same, to produce quality wood products using potentially wasted resources (mainly trees that fall in windstorms, PEFC certified pine and recycled skateboards) to bring sustainable design into your home.
New objectives include: aquisition of our new work space / store location. Once this is established; imparting classes to the general public, developing our website and expanding our presence and to the rest of Spain and Europe.
We will continue to work with ecological brands, personalize products for the general public and maintain a physical store to attend clients in person as well as expand our online presence.
Results in relation to category
The results achieved by this project have been more awareness based then monetarily. I have the support of the local community and have been investing back into this project to be able to work with more sustainable materials. I am currently trying to purchase a ground level space in a building in the center of our city to rennovate and install a workspace. I am also looking for a new lathe with the requirments for processing larger / heavier logs.
The major impact achieved by my project has been on a public awareness level, garnering the support of the community here in A Coruña. Next I would like to expand to reach a larger audience.
Considering the design of the products, the public has been impacted by realizing the range of possibilities using recycled materials. What appear to be everyday discarded items may be transformed into useful functional pieces for your home or into works of art. We have integrated both design and sustainablility into the core values of our project and people turn to us to provide ecological solutions, not found in other places.
Lately we have attracted the attention of larger marketing firms, being approached to provide solutions for sustainable brands, from forestry companies, to electric scooters, surf/skateboard shops, sustainable cafe´s, in addition to other clients who are simply searching for high quality / products made to strict specifications.
How Citizens benefit
Citizens have benefited from and affected the project in many ways. Through an ecological market that I attended for several years before the pandemic I got to know many people who strongly believe in sustainability and ecological / natural products. At this market I´ve been recognized by the community as a person who takes advantage of potentially wasted materials to make functional art.
Many times people come to my shop to speak about sustainability and congratulate me on my work. I have been invited to give presentations to the community. I enjoy speaking to people about the importance of taking care of our environment and I normally have an opportunity to speak to people at various markets. Here in Coruña, I go to the largest ones which normally last one to two weeks. These markets can attract hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. This year I will keep building an online presence and promoting through online resources in order to reach a larger audience / not depend on attending events in person. The pandemic has changed the handmade sector in many ways, making local markets less dependable.
I work with small companies / individuals to design furniture for their businesses or homes using sustainable materials. I have made childrens toys that went to schools in Africa, collaborated with local communities who support sustainability in a sense to promote the importance of recycling, reusing materials, zero plastic, ecological and organic living. Have appeared in the local newspaper on several occasions and have created a local sustainable brand of personalizable home products.
I am setting up to offer classes to the public as a whole, where they can choose from projects at their skill level and learn the different techniques necessary to produce their own goods. The classes will be scheduled monthly and will be open to different age groups.
Innovative character
The design of unique and original pieces using material that would otherwise go unused. The main concept is to transform otherwise unusable products through sustainable processes, into functional and decorative pieces for living spaces. Our main clients are those who have strong values in sustainability and nature. We work with people to design custom furniture, bowls, lamps etc, for peoples homes using sustainable materials.
On the other hand, recycling broken and used skateboards raises awareness of the importance to take care of our environment. When people see highly elaborated objects used from recycled material, it changes their way of thinking. Many times it inspires them to be more aware of the quantity of materials being unused and wasted, which in turn leads to pollution. At this point we already have too many things in the world, now it´s time to take them and reutilize them to make new things.
More than making products, we represent sustainability and highlight the beauty of nature and uniqueness in each piece. Following traditional techniques we strive to transform otherwise unusable materials into a variety of functional pieces.
