Johanna Mattsson, a recent graduate of the Danish Design School in Copenhagen, has created the Ashes to Ashes chair as her graduation project.

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Description from Johanna Mattsson:

With this project I have highlighted and tried to solve the following problem:  Outdoor furniture sold and used in Scandinavia are often made of exotic wood imported from faraway countries, which generate a huge amount of co2 pollution; or the materials used are non-renewable resources hard to introduce to new lifecycles and therefore creates an unwanted environmental impact during their lifetime.

I have created a concept for outdoor furniture suitable to the climate, history and the assets that are represented here in Scandinavia; a concept with references to Nordic furniture history, the Nordic mythology and traditional furniture manufacturing.

The first piece of furniture from this concept is a chair made from solid ash wood. The chair can be used throughout the whole year, both outdoors and inside. By the end of its functional life is meant to be burned to ashes, which gives nutrition and life to another plant or tree: ashes to ashes.

I wanted to focus on the locally grown and produced materials, and furthermore inform the consumer about the lifecycle and environmental impact of the chair. Lastly I wanted to stress the owner responsibility in regard to caring for the chair and thus extend its functional life.

The design is inspired by the ash tree to remind of the chairs origin but also show that wood is an organic material.

Contact Johanna Mattsson:  jona.johanna@gmail.com

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