Tamara Orjola

CumLaude

Prizes: Rene Smeets Award Nominee, Keep an Eye Grant Nominee, Brains Award Winner

Department: Man and Well being
Website: tamaraorjola.com

FOREST WOOL

Pine trees are the world’s main source of timber. Every year 600 million pine trees are cut down in the EU only. But there is more to the tree than just wood: pine needles account for 20 to 30 percent of its mass. Tamara Orjola researched the potential use of the billions of needles that go unused and found them to be a great alternative for all kinds of fibres. With standard manufacturing techniques – crushing, soaking, steaming, carding, binding and pressing – they can be transformed into textiles, composites and paper, extracting essential oil and dye in the process. An elegant series of stools and carpets, made of nothing but pine needles, shows that this ecological material also has a high-quality look and feel to it.