Don't Forget To Water the Bench

August 23, 2008

In a move that puts desktop bonsai trees in the dust, two professors at Tel Aviv University recently announced that they're starting a company to create useful structures and furniture from live-growth trees. Yoav Waisel and Amram Eshel are currently working on pilot projects in Australia, Tel Aviv, and the U.S. to grow benches, streetlights, and playground structures (like the concept at left) that stay rooted and alive while in use.

The professors recognize that arborsculpture or plant art has been around for a long time, but they ultimately hope to create something completely new--actual homes constructed entirely with live plants and trees. Count me in: As a child I always daydreamed about living in a tree. Currently they are working in partnership with the Israeli company Plantware to turn their green architecture concepts into live structures that can be put into the ground. Apartment-dwellers should not despair because it looks like Plantware has designs for free-standing pen-holders and coat-hangers. For the record, these guys aren't the only folks out there doing this. In poking around I also discovered Oregonian and arborsculptor Richard Reames, who offers instructions on how to grow a chair. Sure beats my Boston fern, although the little guy does help clean the air.

Photo: Conceptual live-growth playground. Credit: American Friends of Tel Aviv University.