With all the subtle, often indistinguishable ways that plants can struggle to survive, a designer can do little to guide the design process. Without definition, prototypes only twirl through endless possibilities. However, with all but the most accurate of definitions, the design won't meet the strict needs of plants. To design for plants, not just with them in mind, the designer must look humbly to others who can make such definitions.
And here, the interdisciplinary work behind Woven Soil comes to life. On a foundation of plant biology, I could finally design a fabric that acts like a soil, not just takes inspiration from how it appears to work. On this solid foundation, the process of design could finally work its magic.
And so it did. In ways that the science alone couldn't uncover, moments of beauty emerged when the materials came together. A network of threads hold the nutrients, water and air that plants need into a durable, but flexible structure.
And like moss over our walls, the plants sending roots through nothing but fibres brings into question the role of plants in our spaces. If plants are truly so fragile, then how do they grow in our gutters and cracks? How well could they grow if we made space for them? Perhaps there really is a future where humans and plants live side by side.
22nd of October 2024
Other Projects
2024
2023
2022
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Through Their Eyes
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How to Mend with Stabbing
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Queer Aesthetics
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Joy in Weave
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Living Buildings
Then and Now
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Artefacts
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Willow the Wisp
This is my final, complete attempt at a plantable fabric.
Click Here for the Previous Attempt.
Click Here for the Exposure Exhibition Page.
After two largely unsuccessful attempts at creating a plantable fabric, I needed to re-think the design process I was using. I'd largely been working in the space of Design as a discrete practice, following on from methods such as The Double Diamond that center the designer as the master of their own creation. This method has its benefits, especially in the digital environment where control can be exerted with relative totality, but it has a huge issue...
Plants are a horrible design client.