Japanese architect Kengo Kuma designed a pair of Christmas trees made from different components that will become furniture at the Edition Hotels in Toranomon and Ginza, Tokyo. The trees are made from timber components, which have been arranged to form a traditional Christmas tree. Once the holiday season ends, the trees will be disassembled and converted into furniture by Japanese wooden furniture manufacturer Karimoko.

“I designed the Christmas tree as an architectural structure for this project,” said Kuma. “The trees have a story of their own assembly; even after it is finished, they will live forever. In this sense, I realized the ideal way of architecture in the future through the Christmas tree.”

Designer: Kengo Kuma

The first tree is called Kigumi and will be situated in the lobby of the Tokyo Edition, Toranomon Hotel. The hotel was also designed by Kuma. The tree is made using linear timber pieces, made from six types of wood – oak, magnolia, castor aralia, Japanese walnut, Japanese maple, and North American walnut. These woods are paired with silver and bronze metallic finishes. The elements will be utilized as table legs once the tree is disassembled.

The second tree is called Komorebi, and it is placed in the lobby bar of the Tokyo Edition, Ginza. The tree is made from rounded elements that have been built from oak, castor aralia, Japanese walnut, Japanese maple, and magnolia. The different elements have been made from curved timber. The elements will be converted into table tops and hollow pieces of legs for a desk.

“This project of reusing the wood used for the event as furniture is very attractive because it aligns with what we cherish daily,” said Karimoku board director Eiichiro Kato. “We hope that by purchasing the table, you will be able to enjoy the variety of the wood used in the table and feel the charm of the wood and the individuality of the forests we benefit from through our daily lives.”

The post Kengo Kuma Designs Unique Christmas Trees Using Timber Furniture Components first appeared on Yanko Design.

Not all robots have to look, well, robotic. There is a growing number of robots that are inspired by real life creatures (sometimes, even humans, but that’s a whole other discussion) or so called bio-inspired bots. The latest winner of the Natural Robotics Contest is inspired by a pretty unlikely animal: the insect-eating mammal called the Pangolin.

Designer: Dorothy and Dr. Robert Siddall

A high school student from California named Dorothy designed a robot whose main goal is to dig and plant seeds. Since pangolins are naturally digging animals, why not use it to create a robot that can help populate areas with more trees? The winning concept was turned into an actual prototype called the Plantolin by the partner research institute. More than just looking like a pangolin, it uses features from the mammal and incorporate it into the functions of the robot.

The Plantolin roves around on two wheels and just like the pangolin, it balances on its long, movable tail. Each of the wheels has an electric quadcopter drone motor. The digging is done by these two front legs with the tail tilting down once it starts to provide leverage. Once there’s a hole already, the robot drives over it and poops out a yew tree seed bomb nugget (containing both seeds and soil).

It’s a pretty interesting way to re-populate a space with more trees. It will probably be faster and will need minimal human intervention when it’s programmed right, so no need to train actual pangolins to do the job.

The post Pangolin-inspired robot can dig and “poop” out seeds to plant trees first appeared on Yanko Design.

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