The PUNAH Project is an initiative by Godrej, an Indian business group, that focuses on re-thinking the definition, and the use of waste materials. The project was called to life in response to the various types and amounts of industrial waste generated by the manufacturing facilities of Godrej & Boyce, India. PUNAH is an ancient term in Sanskrit that literally means “again”. India’s growing manufacturing ambition is going to bring global issues of excessive waste with it. In response to this, Godrej & Boyce, one of India’s major manufacturing conglomerates, is moving towards a circular economy by considering their industrial waste as a valuable resource. The Project involved lots of hands on exploration and experimentation with large scale industrial waste materials. The objective was to look at the industrial “waste” as perfectly good raw material with potential to create impactful applications that make business sense. The experimentation involved stripping the material down to its elements and applying various processes to create interesting forms and functions that can result in applications. My contributions involved working with materials such as Polystyrene, Cardboard & Wood (Packaging waste) and Fabric (Waste Gloves). My process majorly involved deconstruction and reconstruction of the material to create useful applications in furniture, interior-space and insulation
Photography by Lea Oneko