studio aisslinger: chair farm plantation furniture

‘chair farm’ by werner aisslinger

the increase of urban farming, whereby green spaces are opening up into shared gardens for new agricultural experiments, was the main starting point for werner aisslinger‘s latest work. the berlin and singapore-based designer and architect believes giving everyone the possibility of becoming a producer of agricultural products will be the future in regard to quality and sustainability. with this, he thought of way to invert the creation and development of furniture from globalized serial manufacturing to a resource-conserving local production. that is how ‘chair farm’ was conceived. it is aisslinger’s vision of how this idea could be realized within an agricultural lab.

the project itself is a kit which offers one the ability to plant and naturally grow their own chair. this initial prototype consists of a perforated steel corset which acts as a mold to guide the direction in which the vegetation grows. once the plant has reached maturity, it is released from the frame revealing a naturally grown chair. with this philosophy, furniture is no longer produced in the classical sense of the word, rather it is brought down to simpler, more radical terms which aims to lead us into a new direction of ecological production methods and rethinking the future of the furniture industry.

the ‘chair farm’ greenhouse and laboratory is on show at ventura lambrate as part of the ‘instant stories’ exhibition during milan design week 2012.

general view of the ‘chair farm’ kit

detailed of the steel corset which guides the direction in which the plant grows

detail

finished product – a naturally grown chair!