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Tree to one

How can sustainable furniture manufacturing be improved through greater material economy?

Tree to One is a conceptual furniture project. It transforms an entire, roughly fifteen year old, pine tree into exactly one stool, with no added or wasted material. To that end the stools proportions are directly related to the dimensions of the tree while the design allows, through careful planning and technical ingenuity, reassembly of the tree in its new form without external connectors such as glue or screws. Despite natural variations in the trees, the resulting stools resemble a serialised industrial product. 

The undried wood is cut into elements, lightly processed, then pressed into its shape as green wood. The pine bark is then woven onto the frame and finally, the pine oil extracted from the needles of the tree can be applied to the wood to offer a protective film.

Facts

Research Topic
Green Design 12.0- Verflechtungen

Project Type
Teaching Course Studio Practice

Designer(s)
  • Paul Engelmann

Supervision by
  • Prof. Dr. Zane Berzina
  • Prof. Barbara Schmidt
  • Prof. Steffen Schuhmann
  • Prof. Dr. Lucy Norris
  • Andreas Kallfelz
  • Mina Mahouti

in Collaboration with
  • Gut Vollenschier

2023