MILAN, April 17 — The collection “A Piece of Sky,” on sale as of this week, features a selection of 16 homeware items made from decommissioned or surplus airplane parts.
“A Piece of Sky” is comprised of ranges of tables, chairs and lamps — all assembled from aluminium wing ribs, fuselage panels, cabin window frames and more upcycled aircraft materials from Airbus's decommissioned airplanes.
Indeed, the Aircraft Fleet Recycling Association estimates that 12,000 commercial aircraft could be retired in the next 20 years — most of which would likely end in aircraft boneyards.
In view of this alarming situation, two Airbus employees — Anais Mazaleyrat and Jérémy Brousseau — developed the start-up A Piece of Sky, through the aerospace incubator Airbus BizLab. They commissioned 11 French designers and craftspeople to create a homeware collection at the crossroads of design and the circular economy.
The flagship piece of “A Piece of Sky” is the Cloud armchair, designed around the shape of an A350 radome. This limited-edition chair is made mainly of composite materials, wood, concrete and custom-made fabric. The collection also features the UFO light fixture, assembled with an A340 radome kept at the Airbus materials design office, and the Nimbus chair, inspired by A350 cabin windows.
Retail prices range between €800 (RM3,730) and €1000 — while the prices of limited-edition pieces are available upon request. The first collection of “A Piece of Sky” is now on sale via the startup's official website: www.apieceofsky.com. — AFP-Relaxnews
