17 Projects That Use "Ugly" Materials in Beautiful Ways

Including stylish strand board spaces, repurposed shipping containers, and offices that get fresh with mesh.

Jan 30, 2023 - 20:17
17 Projects That Use "Ugly" Materials in Beautiful Ways

Including stylish strand board spaces, repurposed shipping containers, and offices that get fresh with mesh.

This story is part of Pretty Ugly, a package celebrating design that’s so bad, it’s good.

Is it really that hard to build a head-turning project out of marble slabs or sleek glass panels? Where’s the challenge in turning velvety-smooth white oak boards or hand-chiseled stone into an architectural masterpiece? While we obviously love beautiful homes built from beautiful materials (see:  every page of this website), there’s something extra special about designs that lean on more, uh, unconventional resources.

Corrugated metal, concrete pipes, and cardboard may not be the most inspiring of materials, but when industrial supplies wind up in the right hands, the results can be downright magical. You know what they say: one person’s trash is another’s statement-making feature wall.

Whether these designers chose their unexpected materials to save money, create a one-of-a-kind space, or simply remind us that beauty can be found in the most unlikely of places (for example, the dumpster), each of these projects uses "ugly" materials in beautiful new ways.  

A Wire-and-Steel Office, Built in a Former Italian Villa

Italian design firm Archisbang transformed an unfinished family villa—acquired through a bankruptcy auction—into additional office space for a company called Chemsafe. The volume is wrapped in a metal mesh and the walls are clad in exposed wood fiber and concrete insulating panels and galvanized metal sheets, creating a striking contrast between precise detailing and raw materiality.

Italian design firm Archisbang transformed an unfinished family villa—acquired through a bankruptcy auction—into additional office space for a company called Chemsafe. The volume is wrapped in a metal mesh and the walls are clad in exposed wood fiber, concrete insulating panels, and galvanized metal sheets, creating a striking contrast between precise detailing and raw materiality.

Photo by Aldo Amoretti

Archisbang saw the value in materials that had been left exposed, so it amplified the look with mesh wiring, galvanized steel, and wood and concrete fiber panels.

Archisbang saw the value in materials left exposed, so it amplified the look with mesh wiring, galvanized steel, and wood and concrete fiber panels.

Photo by Aldo Amoretti

The renovated basement has curtains made of shiny bubble wrap, steel grate catwalks, and reflective surfaces everywhere.

The renovated basement has curtains made of shiny bubble wrap, steel grate catwalks, and reflective surfaces everywhere.

Courtesy of Buero Wagner

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