Ecomade
Ecomade
Winner
Joel Hügli (1993)
80% design researcher, HSLU; 20% designer and co-founder, Ecomade
Master Design, HSLU, 2022
Bachelor Product and Industrial Design, FHNW, 2018
Apprenticeship as a structural draughtsman, ar3 architekten, Bern, 2013
Ecomade
2020–2022
Mainly Lucerne, Bern, Wangen an der Aare
Diploma, Master Design, HSLU, 2020–2022
Coaching: Master Design, HSLU
Network: Swiss Mattress Alliance
Producer: Roviva Roth & Cie
Mattress prototype, explorative material samples, posters
Mattress prototype: 200 × 90 × 20 cm; explorative material samples: approx. DIN A4/5 (up to 100 pieces); posters: DIN A4 and DIN A0
Main materials for the experiments: pocket springs (metal and non-woven); knitted, woven and non-woven fabrics; polyurethane foam
This is a topic to send you to sleep… Which is exactly how it should be, because it is all about mattresses. In Switzerland alone, one million of them are disposed of in waste incineration every year. Around 90% of the ecological footprint of mattresses is linked to the materials used in them. This calls for a paradigm shift towards a sustainable, circular mattress industry!
Joel Hügli tackled the problem in an explorative, design-driven and empirical process as part of his Design Master’s thesis. Ecomade (short for Ecological Mattress Design) was developed in dialogue and cooperation with the industry. As a result, three possible solutions were developed and demonstrated:
1. A new generation of circular comfort mattress
2. Closed-loop recycling of post-consumer mattress textiles
3. Ten design principles for sustainable mattresses
