Eggshells to Elegance: Melbourne Designer Wins Top Furniture Prize
A Sustainable Innovation
Joanne Odisho, a furniture designer based in Melbourne, has pioneered a unique material made from discarded eggshells. She collects the waste from local cafes, then sterilizes, dries, and grinds them into a fine powder using a Nutribullet. This powder is combined with a biopolymer to create a substance with the consistency of wet sand. The mixture is poured into molds and left to dry naturally for about a week.
The setting agent is a household product that is biodegradable, making the final material cheap, durable, and compostable.
The resulting composite retains the natural, organic colors of eggshells without the need for added dyes.
From Waste to Award-Winning Design
Odisho uses this material to create Mod-u lamps—a collection of configurable lighting pieces that can be rearranged into different forms. The versatility of the design was a key factor in its success.
The lamps won the Australian Furniture Design award in 2025, which comes with a $20,000 cash prize and a collaboration with Stylecraft for commercial production.
Why It Won: 'Living Well, Living Small'
The award’s theme was "living well, living small," focusing on comfort, functionality, and wellbeing in compact spaces. Tony Russell, brand director of Stylecraft and jury member, noted that the lamps’ versatility—configurable as table lamps, floor lamps, or feature pieces—combined with their tactile, architectural form, were decisive in the jury’s choice.
What’s Next?
Odisho plans to work with Stylecraft on developing a new design, which could be a variation on the lamps or an exploration of modular sofas.