Growing Furniture: The seed of an idea

Side Table ASH, Idea #1 / Three years of maturity

Bill Katavolos (1924-2020), a visionary architect and educator known for his spirit of discovery and invention and  part of the Architecture School at Pratt Institute, introduced the idea of genetically modified organisms that “grow” into Architecture and the furniture that populates it in Organics, a short treatise published in 1961. To further explore that idea I propose SEEDS that grow into furniture on vast farms and maybe in backyards. I’m not exactly sure how it might work but humans have been altering organisms for millennia.

The first farmers recognized that some plants and trees produced more food whether it was grain or fruit. They realized that by using the seeds from those plants they might get the same results and sometimes they did. . I would suggest that they were genetically engineering their crops. Eventually humans began to understand how to control the result of cross pollination. Now we understand and can manipulate the DNA of plants in GMO’s (genetically modified organism). Today we have GMOs everywhere producing abundant food and raw materials for our ever hungry and product consuming population.

Growing a three-legged table is probably the easiest place to start, since there are trees that produce large leg like roots that protrude from the ground forming a single trunk that might just divide naturally into three limbs that would provide stable supports for a tabletop. Starting with this obvious solution and figuring out the genetics of the tree is probably pretty simple.

Planting a farm of them is the difficult part, but entirely possible. We do know how to grow trees on farms for pulp and lumber it’s just a matter of utilizing that knowledge in pursuit of the perfect table base, instead of the perfect Christmas tree. If it turns out that fruit trees are easily manipulated, which seems likely given their long history of cooperating with farmers, there might be a bonus of fruit when the tables are harvested.

So besides watching tables with fruit grow in a field what are the other advantages to this crazy idea? A lot of trees are now grown so they can be chopped up into small pieces and glued back together to form “wood” products. What if we eliminated all that chopping and gluing and forming and whatever and just “grew” a table? What if furniture grew in fields absorbing and capturing carbon? What if we could persuade the consumer that watching your furniture grow might be more fun and enjoyable and that all the chopping and cutting and finishing and whatever was not as good for the planet as watching seeds turn into wonderful products.

Of course they will be finishing and shipping until the production process gets streamlined and people can grow furniture in their backyard.

Chaise Lounge OAK, Idea #2 / Three years of maturity

Growing two different materials simultaneously presents all sorts of interesting problems but it’s not unusual in the natural world. Corn grows inside a husk, which has a completely different form and texture from the kernels, as do most fruits that produce a protective covering like oranges. So maybe it’s possible to grow different structures to form the frame of the Chaise lounge and have mesh like sling form on the frame. Lots of vines like ivy grow into messy woven meshes so I’m thinking the chaise may have an oak frame with enhanced ivy forming the seating surfaces. Other seating surfaces that might work are a kind of caning or willow that I think have been used as seating surface.

This is all speculation, at this point; there are lots of other possible combinations that will have to be tried before a workable solution to growing a dual material chaise is accomplished.

Small Side Table MAPLE, Idea #3 / Three years of maturity

Maple seems like the right choice for a side chair because of its strength, flexibility, and lovely color. It also grows faster than most hardwoods. Growing the seat and back of an armless side chair is a wonderful challenge. Creating a seat and back that flexes might be difficult but probably worth it. At first the chairs might need some sort of armature to help train the branches keeping them straight and pointed in the right direction. Once the DNA is working, I think it will be quite possible to grow a variety of seat and back patterns ranging from the simple straight, side to side grid to Diamond shapes maybe even a woven seat and back. 

Bruce Hannah © July 7, 2023

Information

William (Bill) Katavolos
www.williamkatavolos.com

TEDxBrooklyn / William Katavolos, 2010
www.youtube.com

Pratt Digital Futures / William Katavolos: The new Palladio, Poesis versus Noesis (part 1 of 12)
www.pratt.digitalfutures.info