Transforming Car Parts into Thoughtful Furniture | Part Exchange

FDT Bureau

Designer Andu Masebo’s inventive approach to repurposing a discarded car has yielded eight stunning furniture pieces now showcased at the V&A for the London Design Festival. Masebo’s Part Exchange project, commissioned by the museum, involved acquiring an aging Alfa Romeo on eBay and creatively disassembling it for parts. Know more about it on FURNITURE DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY (FDT).

Each piece in the Part Exchange collection has been inspired by the car’s visual identity and the stories of its previous owners. Two furniture pieces, a stylish coffee table and a matching shelving unit, explore the car’s distinctive silhouette and include components from its bodywork. Masebo has carefully balanced transforming car parts enough to conceal their original function while preserving their essence, avoiding clichéd design.

In collaboration with Greater Goods, Masebo has also repurposed the car’s logo-patterned upholstery into a patchwork fabric for a unique day bed, symbolizing a love story connected to the car’s dismantling. The remaining five pieces represent the car’s past owners, with each item reflecting their experiences and associations with the vehicle. For instance, a night light made from the engine block honors the feeling of third-man syndrome, providing comfort in darkness, inspired by an owner’s personal story.

Another creation, a hallway shelf, has been designed from a passenger seat’s backrest, rearview mirror, and other elements, representing the mundane but essential aspects of daily life. According to the designer, the Part Exchange collection is not about using every car part but explores the emotional connections to objects we’ve owned and challenges our relationship with newness and history. It invites us to reevaluate our possessions and their significance in our lives.

Image credit: Andu Masebo and Jennifer Hahn