Designing the Future: Arper’s Journey to CO₂-Negative Furniture

A European Union funded project – NextGenerationEU: PNRR M4C2 - iNEST Program-spoke 4 – Investment 1.5: Project nco2 - CUP F79I24001500004.

At Arper, we believe design is about asking the right questions and seeking meaningful answers. What is the impact of what we create? And what if we reimagined production—not simply as a matter of efficiency, but as a process that gives back to the planet?

This is the spirit behind Nco2Factory, a research and innovation initiative exploring the possibility of designing and producing furniture with a negative carbon footprint. An open platform—not a final solution, but a vision of what’s to come. We work with what we have—materials, energy, expertise—to imagine a future where design and regeneration come together.

Our vision of a vibrant, beautiful world takes shape through a concrete commitment: designing with sustainability in mind, creating spaces and solutions that evolve with the people who inhabit them. This outlook has led us to explore materials and processes that generate positive impact.

A meaningful example is our partnership with Swedish start-up PaperShell, launched in 2021. PaperShell is developing an innovative material derived from kraft paper and bio-based binders with the potential for a negative CO₂ footprint. It’s a pioneering technology that we’re helping to advance through prototypes and real-world applications, assessing its environmental performance, durability, and versatility.

One of the most emblematic outcomes of this collaboration is the launch of Catifa Carta 53 in 2024—a sustainable reinterpretation of the iconic Catifa 53, featuring a shell made of PaperShell. It marks a first step toward new possibilities for applying this material in the furniture world.

For Arper, sustainability is a shared, tangible commitment. It means caring for the world we live in and promoting solutions that respect people, materials, and resources. It also means continually challenging ourselves to go further, seeking new ways to make a positive impact.

Among these ambitions is the creation of a fully CO₂-negative design object—an invitation to see design as an expression of both environmental and social responsibility.

This drive has led us to collaborate with Insieme, a social enterprise focused on reuse and recycling, offering employment to people in vulnerable situations. Together, we are exploring new models of inclusive production, where materials also carry stories of community and dignity.

Our goal is to explore the potential of industrial symbiosis by transforming textile waste into resources for furniture. Insieme is currently working to identify, select, and repurpose the most suitable pre- and post-consumer recycled fabrics for this process.

As part of this broader vision, we continue to experiment with new applications for PaperShell. Within Nco2Factory, this exploration is evolving: we are developing new components made entirely of PaperShell for the Catifa Carta collection and designing soft elements made from recycled textiles—to add even more comfort and eco-consciousness to the collection. It marks a key step toward the realisation of a fully carbon-negative chair.

Nco2Factory takes shape as a research and innovation project within Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), as part of the iNEST innovation ecosystem.

This is an industrial research project led by Arper and supported by the PNRR within the I‑NEST – Interconnected Nord‑Est Innovation Ecosystem. It is part of Spoke 4, “City, Architecture and Sustainable Design”, coordinated by the IUAV University of Venice. The aim is to develop carbon-negative furniture solutions that support the ecological transition in the design industry.

Innovation, for us, is where vision meets methodology. That’s why Nco2Factory merges industrial research with experimental development. We imagine the factory as a space for sustainable and cultural experimentation.

For us, this project is a pivotal moment in our journey toward conscious, sustainable, and inclusive design—an invitation to approach the future not only as a challenge, but as a chance to shape new, responsible expressions of beauty.