From Waste to Architectural Art: Pretty Plastic @ Bundeskunsthalle

Pretty Plastic is proud to be featured in WEtransFORM – On the Future of Building, a major international exhibition on sustainable architecture and urban transformation, hosted by the Bundeskunsthalle in Bonn.

The exhibition brings together over 80 pioneering initiatives from across Europe and explores how architecture and design can help reshape the built environment in response to the climate and resource crisis. Themes include circular construction, climate adaptation, biodiversity, and reuse – with a focus on practical, scalable solutions that merge environmental responsibility with spatial and social quality.

Pretty Plastic is featured in the exhibition’s Optimise Cycles cluster, which highlights innovations in material reuse and resource loops. Our contribution illustrates how a discarded material – in our case, PVC construction waste – can be transformed into high-quality, expressive and climate-conscious façade elements.

Our story began with the vision of Overtreders W and bureau SLA, who initiated the Pretty Plastic Factory to explore the reuse of plastic waste in architectural applications. Their breakthrough came in 2017 with the People’s Pavilion, built for Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven. The pavilion was constructed entirely from borrowed and reusable materials, including 9,000 recycled plastic tiles. This bold experiment proved that circularity in construction could be beautiful, functional, and radically collaborative.

Pretty Plastic is the continuation of that vision – transforming a design idea into a certified, fully developed building product. Today, our 100% recycled PVC tiles are used across Europe on schools, homes, cultural buildings and offices, offering a colourful and responsible alternative to traditional cladding materials.

Being included in WEtransFORM is a milestone for us. To see our material, which originated as waste, now featured in a national art and design museum underscores the cultural value of circular innovation. It’s also a recognition of how architectural materials can carry a story – not just of performance or style, but of rethinking systems, supply chains, and what we value in the built environment.

WEtransFORM – On the Future of Building
6 June 2025 – 25 January 2026
Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn
Opening Festival: 6 & 7 June 2025