Material Lab: living archive of errors, memories, and reinvention
Requiem of Ruins, also called the Material Lab, is a design space in India developed by Multitude of Sins. Built almost entirely from discarded and rejected materials, the project explores waste, obsolescence, and the value of imperfection in contemporary design.
The lab occupies a converted apartment and uses 95% salvaged materials, including chipped tiles, warped wood, broken prototypes, and obsolete fragments. These remnants form its structure, cladding, and interior details, transforming overlooked byproducts into a functioning workspace and experimental art gallery. The project emerged after two years of collecting leftover materials from the studio’s past projects. Before construction, every piece was logged and catalogued, creating an archive that informed the design process.
finished in a subdued wash, the door postures as an emblem of restraint | all images courtesy of Multitude of Sins
Multitude of Sins uses Discarded samples as main design material
The space was realized by Multitude of Sins Studio in collaboration with local artisans, with no standardized manual or prefabricated system. Instead, each component was reinterpreted according to its material properties and potential for reuse. This adaptive approach turned constraints into opportunities, enabling the lab to operate simultaneously as a workspace, a material archive, and a platform for rethinking resource use in design.
Inside, architectural fragments and offcuts are integrated into doors, furniture, shelving, lighting, and wall treatments. Each element carries traces of previous projects, creating a layered environment where discarded components acquire new function and meaning. Rather than erasing imperfections, the design incorporates them, positioning failure and error as productive parts of the creative process. The Material Lab stands as both a functional studio and an evolving exhibition. It reframes construction waste not as residue but as raw material for design, offering an alternative model for sustainability rooted in experimentation, memory, and reinvention.
neon letters declare LAB in an atmosphere of alchemy
ceilings twist with serpentine conduits and glowing bulbs
Material Lab is a living archive of errors, memories, and reinvention
95% of the space is made from leftovers and rejects
the staircase layers rescued tiles, wallpapers, and fabrics, giving each fragment a second chance
wall samples and painted skins line the walls, turning remnants into an evolving material library
salvaged fragments and prototypes form a war room of surfaces where samples hang, tilt, and shift
the pegboard wall, salvaged from an old staircase railing, now curates over 300 metal samples
a six-seater table, once a dining table, is now repurposed as the scene of negotiation and narrative
two years of collecting waste turned into a design blueprint
bare plywood slices meet shards of MDF, solid wood fragments, and angled metal rods in a joyful collision
the passage, like no other ordinary corridor, gathers material ghosts and architectural misfits in harmony
repurposed materials shape furniture, walls, and lighting
project info:
name: Requiem of Ruins
architect: Multitude of Sins | @multitudeofsins
lead architect: Smita Thomas
location: Karnataka, India
designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.
edited by: christina vergopoulou | designboom
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