Catalonia Ecodesign Award

Marina Gallego Anguis has obtained the special mention in the Young Design category in the Catalonia Ecodesign Award 2021 with her Final Project of the Bachelor of Design Oraia, Camino Sostenible (Oraia, Sustainable Path), a footwear conceived considering all the environmental aspects in an integral way, from the materials to the separable elements to facilitate repair and recycling.

The design proposal presented in Oraia, Camino Sostenible is aimed at solving some of the main problems in the recycling of footwear. To do so, it has been necessary to make a brief review of history and pay attention to important aspects such as the current socio-cultural context and concepts such as identity and accessory, to design footwear that the user chooses to feel identified with its values and wants to wear satisfied and convinced.

It has been designed avoiding the use of new raw materials, using 90% reused materials, and with assembly processes free of adhesives that allow it to be 100% recyclable. It is made of canvas, tyres, cork and PET thread, all recycled material, as well as BCI-certified cotton, natural latex and chrome- and nickel-free metal. As for the packaging, it consists only of a canvas tape, saving 50% of storage and transport space, and water-based ink for printing. Traditional sewing techniques are used to assemble the parts, which facilitates recycling. Maintenance is simple: hand wash and air dry.

Oraia, Camino Sostenible is part of the travelling exhibition of the Catalonia Ecodesign Award, which will be on display from 18 November to 15 December at Disseny Igualada, and from 16 December to 18 January at the Museu del Disseny in Barcelona.