ASSOCIATIONS
'Seed to Seat' project
comes to South Africa
Furniture design and Life Cycle Assessment project throws the
spotlight on versatile, yet less well-known, American hardwood
species and identify the true environmental impact of design.
Kick off meetings were held with the designers in Johannesburg and Cape Town. Image: AHEC
T
he American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC), the
leading international trade association for the
American hardwood industry, has announced the
launch of Seed to Seat, a collaboration with seven of the
most prominent and exciting designers in South Africa,
who have been given an open brief and asked to design
‘something to sit on’.
The pieces, to be made from a selection of four American
hardwood species, will be unveiled at 100% Design South
Africa 2017 exhibition, which runs from 9 to 13 August, in
Johannesburg. With Seed to Seat, AHEC aims to identify
the true environmental impact of design and build on its
extensive work with Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The
announcement follows kick off meetings held with the
designers in Johannesburg and Cape Town earlier
this month.
The launch of Seed to Seat South Africa builds on prior
initiatives in the Middle East, Australia and Europe, which
have aimed at creatively promoting American hardwoods,
10 JUNE / JULY 2017 //
and have involved the likes of Zaha Hadid, David Adjaye,
Matteo Thun, Sou Fujimoto, Norman Foster and Paul Smith
among others.
According to Roderick Wiles, AHEC regional director, the
word sustainable has almost become design rhetoric.
While many well-intentioned designers claim
sustainability in their approach to their work, there is often
little solid evidence to support them in making those
claims. South Africa’s Andrew Dominic (Andrew Dominic
Furniture); James Mudge (James Mudge Furniture Studio);
Laurie Wiid van Heerden (Wiid Design); Christoph Karl
(Guideline Manufacturing); Jacques Cronje (Jacques Cronje
Timber Design); David Krynauw (David Krynauw); and
Adriaan Hugo (Dokter and Misses) are collaborating with
AHEC to demonstrate that sustainability can have
substance. In response to an open brief for ‘something to
sit on’ made from American hardwood lumber, each
designer has been asked to create a piece made from
American cherry, tulipwood, soft maple or red oak.