Author: NFTeam

Tree Shaping

Tree shaping is the art of manipulating the growth of trees to design them into a useful product. This can be done through various methods including simply guiding the direction of growth, grafting or aeroponic culture of roots.

The skill of shaping trees is known as Arbosculpture. The main idea is to avoid the multistage process of growing a tree, chopping it down, sawing into parts and then nailing or gluing it together of conventional carpentry and instead simply shape the tree as it grows. Many trees can be shapes in this way including poplar, apple, birch, willow, cherry, ash, plum, cedar, hazel and red alder trees.

Uses

  • Furniture e.g. chairs, tables, stools and hammocks – see examples by Full Grown which is selling grown furniture commercially.

    Tree Shaping Factory from Full Grown Company
  • Ladder
  • Hat stand
  • Bridges e.g. tree root bridge
  • Archways
  • Fences

Uses

  • Buildings – there are several examples of designers experimenting with creating building structures by growing trees:
  • The Patient Gardner –  a design for a study retreat created by Visiondivision which is currently growing at the Politecno di Milano campus. The main two tier structure is being created out of 10 cherry trees which are being trained into dome shapesThe Patient Gardner by Visiondivision

Processes

From Lazerhorse, there are the main ways of shaping trees:

1) Aeroponic Culture

Roots are grown above ground rather than below, sprayed with water and nutrients and remain flexible for longer than they would in the ground so that they can be manipulated.

2) Instant Tree Shaping

This is done on trees a couple of metres tall. You slowly bend the trees and keep them in unnatural positions until they start growing that way of their own accord.

3) Gradual Tree Shaping

This is similar to instant tree shaping but is started on very young saplings so the process is much longer.

4) Grafting

The limbs of certain trees (and other plants) can be joined by growing together, in part or as a whole, by cutting through the outer layer of the whole limb (usually at an angle).

More Information

  • fullgrown.co.uk
  • grown-furniture.co.uk
  • http://www.lazerhorse.org/2013/09/15/arborsculpture-tree-shaping/
  • http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-arbosculpture.htm
  • https://activities.tjhsst.edu/scifront/articles/arborsculpture.html

Natural enzyme ‘eats’ PET plastic

“Researchers from Britain’s University of Portsmouth and the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) made the discovery while examining the structure of a natural enzyme found in a waste recycling center a few years ago in Japan.

They say the enzyme, Ideonella sakaiensis 201-F6, is able to “eat” polyethylene terephthalate, PET, which was patented as a plastic in the 1940s and is used in millions of tons of plastic bottles.”
– https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/16/world/plastic-pollution-science-environment-enzyme-intl/index.html

 

Uses

  • [Historical and contemporary]

Potential Uses

  • [Research, Exploratory/student projects, Ideas…]

Processes

  • [Overview; need not be detailed.]

More Information

  • [Links to the most relevant projects, organisations, research, suppliers etc.]
  • [e.g. ExampleOrg – Organisation which researches this material]

Leaf Fibre + Plant Tannin Composite

A natural composite with properties comparable to sheet plastic. Historically made for Katagami, the traditional Japanese craft of making paper stencils for dyeing textiles.

Natural composites can be made by combining the tensile strength of leaf phloem fibres with a bonding matrix from plant-derived tannins.

An example with properties comparable to sheet plastic (strong, flexible, water-resistant) is made with Mulberry leaf fibres bonded with Persimmon based glue, for Katagami, the traditional Japanese craft of making paper stencils for dyeing textiles.

Uses

  • Kategami stencils

Potential Uses

Although we are not aware of contemporary usage of this material, we wonder whether this or similarly created natural composites could replace materials such as plastic sheet in any contemporary contexts:

  • Bags? (particularly that need to be water-resistant)
  • Laptop / Pad / Phone sleeve?
  • Document folders?
  • Book covers?
  • Shoes?

Additionally, perhaps the leaf fibres/washi paper could be used as a bulk material, as discussed in this article

Processes

Washi paper (fibres)

The paper is commonly made using fibers from the bark of the gampi tree, the mitsumata shrub (Edgeworthia chrysantha), or the paper mulberry, but can also be made using bamboo, hemp, rice, and wheat. For example, a DIY process for obtaining fibres from Mulberry bark:

  1. Harvest branches ~3cm diameter, cut into lengths that will fit into steaming pot.
  2. Steam for 1 to 2 hours, causing the bark to shrink so it is easy to strip from the Xylem. Peel off in strips then scrape off the outer bark as much as possible using a dull knife. The Inner Bark that is composed of the Phloem fibers.
  3. If the branches were dried, soak the fibers in water for 12 hours to help remove chlorophyll.
  4. Boil fibres for 1-2 hours in baking soda solution to separate the fibers by dissolving the calcium pectates within the middle lamella.
  5. The fibers should pull apart in your hands. Rinse thoroughly.
  6. Pound into a pulp e.g. with rolling-pin for 1-20 minutes.
  7. This can then be used to make paper (many descriptions online; basically distribute fibers in water and use a mesh rectangle to lift out a paper-thin layer, then dry.)

Kakishibu (Persimmon Tannin Juice glue):

The glue (composite matrix) is traditionally made by fermentation of the tannin-rich juice of astringent (not sweet) varieties of persimmon; such as (in Japan) Ten’nou, Tsurunoko, and Hourenbou:

  1. Harvest unripe fruit (containing abundant tannin) in middle to late August.
  2. Juice by pressing, including the peel.
  3. Filter.
  4. Ferment for ‘a few years’ to make persimmon tannin. The colour darkens as it matures. It must be stored at an appropriate temperature.

‘Katagami’ composite:

The stencil material is made by bonding three sheets of thin washi paper together using kakishibu paste.

Luffa

A fibrous sponge produced by a simple drying process from a member of the cucumber family, and may be used as a cleaning sponge, and possibly in packaging, sound/vibration absorption, or as a matrix in natural composites.

Luffa (loofah, sponge gourd, Egyptian cucumber), are a sponge-like network of xylem fibres from the fruit of Luffa aegyptiaca, a genus of tropical and subtropical annual vines in the cucumber family. The sponge The fruit of L. aegyptiaca and related L. acutangula are also cultivated and eaten as a vegetable.

Tropical and subtropical regions. Can be grown in temperate regions in walled microclimates / greenhouses. Luffa are not frost-hardy, and require 150 to 200 warm days to mature.

Uses

  • Bath or kitchen sponge (often marketed as ‘luffa’ or ‘loofah’)
  • Mats
  • Slippers / Insoles

    https://ecobambas.com/blogs/news/94913985-eco-bambas-luffa-insoles
  • Structural panels, for furniture or house construction, have been made of luffa combined with other vegetable matter and molten recycled plastic in Paraguay. (rolexawards.com; Recyclable homes, Rolex Awards 2008)

Potential Uses

  • Idea: Luffa sponge as the reinforcement matrix in a composite with a natural binder
  • Idea: Packaging
  • Idea: Sound / vibration absorption

Processes

  • Luffa sponge: left to fully ripen and then dry out on the vine, the flesh quickly rots away. The seeds are then shaken out, leaving only the fibrous skeleton network of xylem fibres which is the ‘luffa’.

More Information