A British artist grows trees into tables and chairs in his ‘Furniture Field’. Using molds, grafting techniques and lots of patience, he creates unique and sustainable pieces.
When it comes to furniture, wood and wood-based materials are the most used materials. Wood is a renewable resource, as opposed to metal, plastics and other materials used for furniture. Nonetheless, its harvest is tied to non-negligible environmental impacts. Depending on the way the forest is managed, logging may be a threat to biodiversity and the integrity of soils, among other things. As for other wood-based materials, they require the use of adhesive substances that also come with environmental concerns.
Furthermore, the conventional furniture-making process involves logging trees, shipping them to a plant where they are processed into smaller parts, sending those parts to another point where they are assembled into a table or chair (often using adhesives) and finally being sent to a store. Lots of transportation, and therefore a significant use of fuel.
A British designer boldly proposed an alternative way of creating furniture.
“The concept is pretty straightforward. Rather than cutting down trees and making furniture I wanted to grow the trees in the shape of chairs, mirrors, lamps and so on.”
– Gavin Munro, co-founder of Full Grown
Munro uses chair-shaped molds, which he places upside down in rows on his fields. The trees slowly grow around the mold, under the patient eye of the artist who trains the branches to take the shapes he wants. Munro sometimes grafts branches together to make thicker parts, such as the legs of the chairs. The results are strikingly beautiful pieces.
Since the chair is made of one piece of wood, there are no joints that will become loose over time. Munro estimates that Full Grown’s pieces only require 25 per cent of the energy needed to create conventional furniture. Full Grown does not only sell chairs; the team also grows lamps and mirrors.
While Munro’s idea is quirky and innovative, it is obvious that it is far from being mainstream. Most people will not wait a decade to get a chair, and the pieces are quite pricey. Perhaps in the future the process could be accelerated by using faster-growing plants or by optimising growth in an indoor farm.
In the meantime, there are other eco-friendly ways to furnish your home: buying second-hand furniture or going for upcycled pieces.
