The Problem of Structure

All useful production materials (metal, wood, plastics, rubber, glass) have one thing which unites them, structure. It is safe to say that without a solid/resilient structure these materials would be considered useless for the purposes of making something. Without the inherent structure of wood we wouldn't have trees, without the inherent structure of metal we wouldn't have sky scrappers, without the inherent structure of plastics we wouldn't have iPods or most medical equipment. Structure lies at the heart of all useful things, it may appear in different states but all useful things have it. Rope has structure as a strand, cloth has structure as a surface, and wood has structure as a volume. These are all different types of structure but are still structure nonetheless.

The challenge in this studio will be giving structure to four materials which in their current state have very little structure. Without establishing structure in these materials they will be reduced to the usefulness of packing peanuts or firewood. Lucky for us, most organic material has some inherent structure, without the structure of trees or flowers these living things would die out. Plant life adapted structure in evolution as it was needed. Oak trees have incredibly long, incredibly dense fibers of wood because they need to support a 500 foot tall structure. Bamboo and Sugar Cane have hard external walls because they need protect the nutrients inside.

The trouble with organic material's structure is that it is almost entirely dependent on the water and nutrients which regenerate it and hold it together. When living things die and water and nutrients leave the material it becomes weak and brittle. A living (or green) tree branch is up to ten times stronger than a dead (or dry) branch. This is especially bad news for our studio because the materials we have are not only dead, but have undoubtedly been trampled, processed, twisted, broken and have already begun decomposing as all organic matter does. The original structure which once existed in these plants is almost entirely gone and it is our charge to compose structure from this decomposing matter. It won't be easy but I believe that through the use of additional resources and creative design thinking we will ultimately be successful in making something from nothing. So to speak.