upcycled traffic sign furniture

‘broadway armchair’ by boris bally H39.5 x W35 x D26 inches

designer boris bally of providence, rhode island utilizes the graphic and material potential of recycled traffic signs as his medium, transforming them into bold, statement pieces of furniture. bally works following the philosophy of ‘‘HUMANUFACTURED®’, an approach whereby the hybridization of art, design and craft with a variety of hand and production skills occurs. his latest design is the ‘broadway armchair’ which minimizes scrap generated in its manufacture while simultaneously honing the numerous technical challenges of working with the unyielding material of traffic signs. bally goes through a lot of effort in the location, purchasing and selection of optimal signage material to produce his furniture creations. during the production of these chairs, nothing goes to waste. anything left over during the manufacturing process is further used in the creation of other products such as switch plates, mailboxes, house numbers, clocks, picture frames, even key fobs. through his work, bally hopes to open minds to individuals, making them realize that recycled work doesn’t have to appear dismal or have a lack of comfort. by producing hundreds of these armchairs in a year alone, bally will be able to re-direct over twenty tons of aluminium from landing in the landfills.  each chair uses champagne corks offering anti-slip / anti-scratch legs, and hardware for its construction.

designer boris bally and a ‘broadway chair’

assembly instructions

a look at some of bally’s other traffic sign creations:

‘transit chairs’

‘transit chair -LIMIT!’

‘POP!’ transit tables 16" x 16"

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication.