Slow Design

Mackenzie Carlson

The first of the two examples of slow design that I wanted to include was the above work by Jurgen Bey, titled Garden Bench. This bench is made from compressed plant waste that will degrade over time. Bey’s Garden Bench is an example of slow design as it links us to the natural world and is not confined by time or economy to continue growing and changing. Eventually, it will return to the earth as recycled material.

The second example I wanted to include is the piece above, titled Body Raft 2000 by David Trubridge. Now being sold as a furniture design, Trubridge’s Body Raft 2000 is slow to its core, whether that be from its shape, movement, or interaction with the piece. It invites the user to lie down and rest in a natural position, its shaped influenced by nautical techniques and materials Trubridge came across in a shipyard.

My ‘fantasy project’ involving slow design is (and has always been, honestly) to build a functional home inside of a tree. The connection to nature, the slow degradation over time; everything about a slow design like this is appealing to me! To know that, long after I’m gone, my home will be reclaimed by the surrounding nature would be a great comfort. The slowest, gentlest hug back to where it all came from.

A home in a tree would definitely include more than two of the six slow design principles, but the two I believe it relates to the most are the principles of Engaging and Evolving. About as open-source and collaborative as it gets, my tree home would be well-documented to guide anyone through the process of creating a tree home should they like to, and I’d be collaborating every day not only with whoever else will live in my tree home with me, but also the tree home community and any surrounding neighbors I have. My home would evolve with every new branch and leaf that grows, every added decoration to the interior. Just like any home evolves the longer you live in it, so would my tree- just with the added growth of the literal tree around it!