Andu Masebo turns a red Alfa Romeo into furniture

For London-based designer Andu Masebo, cars are a 'rich territory' of stories. The UK capital’s recent expansion of the Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), charging non-compliant cars a fee to drive on the roads, has prompted fierce debates, with cars condemned as destroyers of the environment or exalted as vehicles of freedom. But for Masebo it is the stories cars evince that fascinate him most. As part of London Design Festival 2023 (16 to 24 September), Masebo is presenting the results of disassembling a 1998 Alfa Romeo 145 Cloverleaf – not ULEZ-compliant – and turning it into a series of furniture pieces. 

Andu Masebo’s ‘Part Exchange’ at the V&A

His 'Part Exchange' project, showcased at the V&A South Kensington, not only presents the sleek and often playful furniture objects he has crafted, but also the stories of the people that have informed them – the previous owners of the red Alfa Romeo that Masebo tenaciously sought out and interviewed. 

'I wanted to take those stories and use them as a starting point or a reason to design objects and furniture that would resonate somehow with what the car used to mean,' he says.

A nightlight, created using car engine parts that cast curious shadows, responds to the life story of the car’s first owner. 'It was a lady who lost her husband while she had the car, but then went on to have an adventurous life, going to Mount Everest and Antarctica,' Masebo says. 'After her husband died, she felt his presence, telling her that she’s going to be OK.' The designer chose a nightlight as a symbol of comforting presence in dark times. 'I’m always making quite simple objects, that sometimes resonate with deep stories,' he adds.

Not all of the owners’ stories were so profound, but Masebo enjoys exploring the banal and the cheeky as much as the heart-rending. A shelf with hidden compartments, made from the wing of the car, was inspired by the owner who bought the car in his twenties and 'got up to no good', while a practical wall unit with space for loose change and plastic bags – made from parts of the passenger seats and the rear-view mirror – is designed in response to the owner who simply used the car to go shopping.

There is also a freestanding shelving unit, a wine rack, a chunky coffee table, coat hooks and a day bed. Each object uses a different part of the car, from its body work to its wheels, and each is hand-welded by Masebo. He admits the design process was a careful balance to strike: wanting the presence of the car to be felt in the objects, whilst not wanting to create anything 'kitsch'.

Masebo found the car online, having searched for cars that had failed their MOTs and were destined to be scrapped ('the car could have been restored, but its value would have been less than the cost to restore it', he explains). Although repurposing waste material is high on the design world’s agenda, Masebo points out that sustainability was not the driving force behind the project.

'The most sustainable way to recycle a car is not to make it into furniture,' he says, explaining that the current system of melting down scrapped cars and using the metal for new uses is a more efficient approach. Nevertheless, he admits conversations about sustainability have emerged indirectly from the project. He hopes the work points to a world in which people are more ‘compassionate’ to materials, including what they meant and how they were used over time.

Mining this emotional landscape and history of objects seems to be Masebo’s preoccupation in his design practice, and it is one he hopes to continue. He is keen to co-design products with people that emerge from in-depth discussions about their lives, needs and feelings. Hopefully, the success of ‘Part Exchange’ will pave the way forward.

The works from 'Part Exchange' are available for sale; prices available on request from the designer. ‘Part Exchange’ is on shows at the V&A South Kensington, 16 September to 15 October 2023

andumasebo.com
londondesignfestival.com