invasive morning glory plants trained to wind & bloom for climate-adaptive chair design

franklin st. studio harvests and weaves morning glory 

Finding new use for invasive plants that engulf infrastructure and ecosystems across Canada, Franklin St. Studio harvests the ruthless alien plant morning glory to present a climate-adaptive chair design. The Good Morning Glory project explores how design can be used as a tool for invasive species management by taking advantage of the plant’s adaptive properties and playing an active role in their life cycles.

The Vancouver-based furniture and material design studio proposes that by fostering a relationship with the plant through its use, we can become an active participant in its responsible disuse. ‘Particularly in places like Vancouver where no management plan currently exists, we stand to make a greater impact through localized interventions that, at the same time, use Morning Glory’s competitive advantage to our advantage,’ notes the team.

Good Morning Glory chair | all images courtesy Franklin St. Studio

integrating furniture design & invasive species management

With this project, Franklin St. Studio harvested morning glory roots from their surrounding property in early spring and relocated them using soil from the site. Throughout the hot and dry summer, little to no watering was needed. To begin with, the designers used simple winding and tying techniques, training the vines to follow a grid-like woven pattern to form the chair’s main seat and back support. During the mid-season, thick lateral shoots appeared quickly, beginning to winding through and engulf the span of the metal chair frame.

The morning glory flowers open with the sun, and only last for one day. While they provide pollen for bees, the leaves are a source of food for the larvae of convolvulus hawk moths. Further, seed pods were prevented from forming during the course of the project, and once complete the roots were dug up and placed in the garbage to be destroyed.

the morning glory chair after all vines have been trimmed and tied in place

harnessing the plant’s powers for climate adaptive design

‘Invasivorism, the practice of eating invasive species to extinction, is being increasingly discussed as a means of pest management. In theory, by creating a profit from a species’ unfettered proliferation we reap multiple benefits, but there’s a danger in adding a value to that we wish to eradicate as we counter-intuitively are incentivizing its preservation,’ explains the design team.

In response, the Good Morning Glory project rethinks how design can be used as a tool for small-scale initiatives to preserve the unregulated species while introducing climate adaptive design possibilities. Franklin St. Studio harnesses the plant’s qualities to their advantage — including its ability to grow and spread quickly, its drought intolerance, and its extended growing season — into a regulated method of species management that doubles as furniture.

in all its glory at the apex of its growing season

a simple woven grid seat and chair back made using the morning glory above-ground growth

the vines grow quickly, winding opposite to the course of the sun

the flowers provide pollen for bees and the leaves are a source of food for the larvae of convolvulus hawk moths

the vines are wound around the frame and tied in place

project info:

name: Good Morning Glory
designer: Franklin St. Studio

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: ravail khan | designboom