PROJECT GREENWOOD

Year : 2021

PROJECT GREENWOOD is a series of spinning tops made from three species of trees as greenwood: Silver Maple, Honey Locust, and American Basswood (also known as American Linden). With the concept of “working with trees rather than wood,” this interactive playing object incorporates the idea of tree identification and the view of trees being more than just a wooden material.

GREENWOOD

generally refers to trees that have not gone through the process of air or kiln drying, containing a high moisture content compared to dried lumber. They are soft and wet and are suitable for hand carving, bending, and turning. The trees used in this project were sourced locally from the Chicago Parks District as cutdown due to weather and storm damages. The majority of discarded urban trees in the United States end up in waste despite their various potential utilization, and figuring out ways to up-cycle these materials has been an essential question to address in many urban communities during the past decade.

PROJECT GREENWOOD

aims to familiarize people with trees and the surrounding environment through a playful experience. Inspired by Japanese Koma, each top is made from a specific tree and adopts the abstract shape of the original plant. A brief description of tree identification is on the backside of the lid providing context of the material and the wood shavings that the spinning tops lay on are material wastes produced during the making process.

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Sincerely, Douglas