Here at .W, each day brings with it a slightly disappointing reminder that we’re yet to incorporate robots in our run-of-the-mill day-to-day existence. If those synth-heavy 80s movies were to be believed, robots should be doing everything from cutting our hair to washing our dishes by now. Sigh. There is one man, however, bringing our futuristic dreams a small step closer to reality. Dutch designer Dirk Vander Kooij – a graduate of Eindhoven’s Design Academy – has cleverly programmed a robot (named Fanuc, no less) to create furniture from nothing but old fridges. Yes, you read that right. Not only is it a robot, it’s an eco-friendly, environmentally-responsible, friend-of-gaia kinda robot.

Once he’d liberated Fanuc from the daily grind of a Chinese production line, Vander Kooij set about programming him to create chairs entirely from melted refrigerator parts. Having unveiled this nifty bit of genius at his graduation show, Vander Kooij has now expanded his Endless Collection line to include rocking chairs, tables and children’s furniture. Put to non-stop use, the hardy Fanuc could produce over 4000 chairs per year. And, despite being churned out by a machine, each piece is entirely customisable. We always knew robots were the future.