R100 is the second chapter in Hydro’s material-led design investigations, following the acclaimed 100R installation at Milan Design Week 2024. This time, the company challenged itself to source, process, and fabricate within a strict 100km radius—demonstrating how circular manufacturing can radically reduce carbon emissions without compromising creativity.
Curated by art director Lars Beller Fjetland, R100 brings together five of contemporary design’s most distinctive voices: Sabine Marcelis, Keiji Takeuchi, Cecilie Manz, Daniel Rybakken, and Stefan Diez. Each designer was given complete freedom—unaware of the production constraints—to create bold, mono-material aluminium pieces ranging from furniture components to sculptural objects.
What makes this project exceptional isn’t just the aesthetics—it’s the numbers. By working within a hyper-local loop in the Benelux region, Hydro achieved a 90 per cent reduction in carbon emissions from transportation compared to the previous year. From post-consumer scrap harvested from greenhouses and light poles to the final product, every stage of R100 demonstrates the potential of urban mining and regionalised manufacturing networks.
Hydro’s CIRCAL 100R aluminium, used across all objects and exhibition components, contains less than 0.5 kg of CO2e per kg of metal—making it the lowest-carbon aluminium on the market today.
R100 isn't just a showcase. It's a statement: that material intelligence, creative freedom, and environmental responsibility can—and must—go hand in hand.
R100 by Hydro
18-20 June 2025
Material Matters Copenhagen
The exhibition is free to attend. Click here for visiting details.
Photos by Einar Aslaksen