Melbourne Design Week - The Piano Transformation Challenge

Part of Melbourne Design Week 2022

Every year more than 2,000 unwanted 80 to 120-year-old pianos end up in landfill across Australia.

Pianos Recycled formed six years ago to try to change this.

Every piano - which is both an instrument and a furniture piece - is built from around 12,000 parts. The old-forest timber and veneer materials found in an old piano were sourced from forests which no longer exist. Many pianos also contain rare or exotic woods. Every piano was built by master craftsmen employing skills established more than 300 years ago.

The Piano Transformation Design Challenge is both an exhibition of local creativity and an opportunity to educate us all on sustainability and the potential of a circular economy. It is our belief that the possibilities to design and create new objects from old pianos are only limited by the imagination and the Challenge aims to prove that.

The free exhibition will showcase unique objects handmade from piano materials by local designers, artisans, craftspeople, Mens Shedders, and hobbyists.

Complementing our exhibition is an education program specially designed by our partner for MDW, Swinburne University of Technology’s KIOSC (Knox Innovation, Opportunity and Sustainability Centre) who will be exploring ways to re-use piano materials while learning about science, waste and the environment.