MAD and PAZ Go Places: Reusable and Sustainable Furniture Made from Recycled Materials from the Madrid City Council Municipal Warehouses
The Madrid City Council participates annually in the National Environmental Congress (CONAMA), an event dedicated to promoting sustainability. Zuloark collaborates each year with the City Council in designing its pavilion for the exhibition.
For each edition, we design the pavilion using materials recovered from the municipal warehouses, while also considering its second life. Instead of being dismantled at the end of the congress, the intervention is relocated to other areas of Madrid, where it gains a new purpose.
For CONAMA 2016, we designed three furniture-letters as the main feature of the space, spelling out the word MAD. These letters have a blue metal structure that supports large light fixtures, specifically luminaires recovered from the municipal lighting warehouses—sodium lamp globes that were progressively being removed from the city and becoming waste. These luminaires were repurposed with new LED elements powered by solar panels.
On the reverse side, wooden benches and tables were integrated into the structure, adapting to the shapes of the letters. Additionally, the furniture is equipped with wheels, allowing it to be easily moved and reorganized. These are spaces for rest, relaxation, play, and free use, built using wooden planks recovered from deteriorated benches in Madrid, also salvaged from municipal warehouses.
In April 2017, during the Peace Forum, the word PAZ (Peace) was added to the original MAD set, transforming this furniture into the main meeting point for the event.
Since then, MAD and PAZ have been located in the northern courtyard of the Conde Duque Cultural Center, becoming part of the plaza’s furniture. Residents regularly visit the space to enjoy moments outdoors, rest after visiting the center, or participate in public events.