Arts Thread

Johanna Gilan
Design MA

Konstfack University Of Arts Crafts and Design

Specialisms: Product / Architecture / Interiors / Industrial Design /

Location: Stockholm, Sweden

johanna-gilan ArtsThread Profile
Konstfack University Of Arts Crafts and Design

Dust to dust, from earth you came and earth you shall become again. Upholstered furniture today contains large amounts of materials based on fossil sources, such as PU foam, polyester and vinyl. In addition to this, they also contain various chemicals such as flame retardants and plasticisers with documented negative effects on humans and the environment. In addition, they are difficult to recycle, which results in upholstered furniture instead being burned or ending up in a landfill at the end of its life, and thus continues to leak both petroleum-based plastics and toxins into nature long after it has ceased to be used. I have therefore researched how to replace these fossil-based materials with hemp and mushroom mycelium alone to create a biodegradable and non-toxic piece of furniture that can be composted at the end of its life without leaving anything behind except nourishment for the earth and the memory of its existence