During the latest edition of the Isola Design Festival, the independent studio Particle presented Parts of a Whole, a project that reinterpreted the codes of contemporary design through an architectural aesthetic and an unusual raw material: industrial and post-consumer waste.

Based between New York and Los Angeles, Particle was born out of a desire to redefine the concept of sustainability within both domestic and shared spaces. Founders Krissy Harbert and Amanda Rawlings, who come from backgrounds in architecture and interior design, brought to Milan a design approach that combines formal rigor with material sensitivity.

For the collection exhibited during Design Week, Particle worked with materials recovered from discarded sports and textile products — especially footwear — transforming them into unique furniture elements. The result was an installation composed of eight different seats, a large circular table, and rugs made from recycled fabrics. Each piece was conceived as part of a whole, with the aim of generating connection, dialogue, and new ways of experiencing space.

Parts of a Whole thus offered a reflection on the narrative potential of waste. Bold forms and heterogeneous textures revealed a layered aesthetic, in which functionality is never separate from the evocative power of the material.

Within a landscape increasingly oriented toward responsible practices, Particle’s project stood as a concrete example of how design can be a vehicle for innovation, awareness, and community.