An interview with Isabel Avendaño Hazbún
Isabel Avendaño Hazbún transforms discarded bicycle tyres into a new upholstery material, made from discarded rubber bicycle tyres sourced from local bike shops that would otherwise end up in landfills.
Working out of her home studio in Melbourne, Avendaño-Hazbún uses handmade analogue tools to break the rubber tyres down into long threads, handwoven into a pliable and durable rope. Building on her chair design originally exhibited at Craft in the exhibition The Chair (2022), she upholsters the chair, weaving the rope through the timber frame. The work will be shown at Craft as part of Future Ambition.
For you, what is the most pressing sustainability concern that you are addressing with your work in Future Ambition?
Repurposing of waste that will otherwise end up in landfills as a real material resource for designers. The skill is in manipulating and transforming the waste into outcomes that elevate its value.
Investigating older low-tech technologies that do not require any massive infrastructure investments by small studio practitioners like myself but that allow for true material research and experimentation. Innovating by beckoning back to older technologies.
And lastly, trying the successful implementation of a circular economy model within my studio practice that can be used as a model for other practitioners.
"This material is incredibly versatile and has endless applications. It is not only aesthetically pleasing when manipulated thoughtfully but also practical applications for manufacturing processes."
You work with discarded bicycle tyres in your practice – how did you come to work with this material and why are you drawn to it?
I use tyre inner tubes in my woodworking practice for glue ups and laminations. I love the properties of this material: its elasticity and friction. I decided to experiment with it in the design of dry joinery using rubber lashings and pressurised rubber inserts for knock down furniture. The research evolved into hand made rope and textiles woven on a shaft loom.
Thinking about the rope material you have developed as part of this work, what king of future can you see for this material? What do you think the possibilities are for industry?
This material is incredibly versatile and has endless applications. It is not only aesthetically pleasing when manipulated thoughtfully but also practical applications for manufacturing processes.
I have already presented an entire collection of work using rubber to create furniture, objects and lighting. In some of the objects the rubber works as a skin protecting the work and in others it is used for lashings to connect furniture components together. For the lights rubber is used as a diffuser and it also holds the repurposed fluorescent tube as well as the LED strips in place.
What are the biggest challenges you face when it comes to material circularity?
Investigating a new material or researching a new manufacturing process can take a long time. So there is that financial challenge of continuing to do research while at the same time trying to keep your business afloat.
Another challenge is using the objects that you are producing to communicate honest sustainability practices within the industry in order to try and change embedded ideas about value and luxury. I believe that objects that balance sustainability and aesthetics are vital and that sustainably should be the true measure of an object’s worth.
"Investigating a new material or researching a new manufacturing process can take a long time. So there is that financial challenge of continuing to do research while at the same time trying to keep your business afloat."
See Isabel's work in Future Ambition, 9 May – 21 June 2025.
Find out more about Conscious Craft – a movement to redefine our relationships with materials in a considered, responsible and responsive way.
