HOW DO PRECONCEIVED ASSOCIATIONS CONTROL OUR CONSUMING HABITS?

Our coffee shops are places where people meet, ideas come together and unexpected collaborations happen. 

Everyday a coffee shop produces more than a coffee. Every cappuccino also produces coffee grounds, wastewater and leftover milk. These all are a part of everyday coffee shop operations - and usually all these by-products end up being thrown away. 

FOUND ASSOCIATIONS - by Mārtiņš Mežulis, Katrīna Tīna Smilga, Līva Sakārne and Paula Punkstiņa - came to us and asked a very valid question: what happens when we stop seeing something as waste and start seeing it as a material? 

And they are presenting their answer in Paris Design Week 2026. 

Object design is undoubtedly the dominant focus of Paris Design Week. Participating with a project centred on the circular economy and interdisciplinary design is an ambitious step that successfully brings a fresh perspective to visitors of the design week. - Mārtiņš Mežulis 

For Paris Design Week 2026, four Latvian artists and designers have turned KALVE’s Paris coffee shop at 6 Rue de Caumartin into an open biodesign laboratory. They explore the café as a small-scale material ecosystem, where the by-products of everyday consumption become the starting point for new forms of production.

Three substances generated through its daily consumption - used coffee grounds, dirty water and excess foamed milk - move through treatment and production stages, connected in a continuous chain of material experiments.

The result is four interconnected visions of how materials created through the simple act of making coffee can be given another form and purpose. 

Mārtiņš Mežulis’ project transforms used coffee grounds into activated carbon, which can then be used to filter the dirty water accumulated in a coffee machine.

Using leftover foamed milk, Katrīna Tīna Smilga created “Milk Glue”. The casein found in milk — the main protein in animal milk - allows it to replace the synthetic adhesive traditionally used for sealing lids and bags.

At the third station, Līva Sakārne combines coffee grounds, filtered water and “Milk Glue” to create trays for serving coffee and pastries. Using a modular press, each tray can be produced with a unique design.

At the final station, which simultaneously welcomes and sees off café visitors, Paula Punkstiņa transforms coffee wastewater, mixed with glycerine and epoxy resin, into sculptural decorations displayed on the entrance doors.

We’re happy that the coffee shop’s everyday routine could become the starting point for new beginnings and different viewpoints. 
For us, this is the most exciting part of collaborations like this - when someone brings a new perspective and suddenly you start looking at familiar and ordinary things in a completely new way. 

See FOUND ASSOCIATIONS at KALVE

6 Rue de Caumartin, Paris

During Paris Design Week 2026

10–19 September

And follow FOUND ASSOCIATIONS ON INSTAGRAM! 

Thank you, FOUND ASSOCIATIONS, for bringing this idea to life with us!