This is Challenge 4c1a from CH 4c: Community level circular products and services
TYPE
global
Note: All our challenges are collaborative. Skype, email or contact us if you want to work with us in real-time! Let’s make a better world for everyone together! gien@stopresetgo.org
BACKGROUND
Plants grow on their own when supplied with a few basic ingredients - sunshine, water and soil. The traditional method of furniture production is to harvest plant material and subject it to mechanical, biological and chemical processes to create a final functional design. Instead, is it possible to simply apply forms and shape the plants into the final production design piece? Finished pieces of “grown furniture” have a much more organic appearance and much lower inputs, hence are perfect for a circular economy. What’s more, because it is not assembled using mechanical, metal hardware, it can save on those inputs plus can be 100% compostable. Spare parts may be an issue as no two structures are the same.
CHALLENGE
Activity: Global brainstorm session and begin initial design
Investigate the feasibilty of growing furniture in South Africa. Questions include:
- What criteria must plants meet for grown furniture?
- Shortlist plant candidates of South Africa for grown furniture
- What biomes and climates are optimum for growing furniture?
- What kind of furniture is suitable to grow? Tables? Chairs? What else?
- How do we design forms for grown furniture?
- What are the process steps for growing furniture?
- What are the ecological and economic costs of growing furniture?
SKILLSETS
- industrial design
- arboriculture (cultivation, management, and study of individual trees)
- furniture design
- biomimicry
REFERENCES
- Gavin Munro’s website Full Grown
- Guardian Feature on Gavin
- Plants of Southern Africa
- @LesUsines_Louise grown furniture experiments https://vimeo.com/129195754
