Weaving Weeds

Weaving Weeds is an interdisciplinary team of graduate students developing biomaterials essential for reducing the environmental impact of industries related to building materials, packaging, and textiles. Using 3D modeling software such as Rhino+Grasshopper, and fabrication technologies such as CNC milling and laser cutting, we are developing mold systems for casting plant roots into useable fabrics and architectural elements. This biofabrication process starts with the sensing intelligence of plant roots and ends with a durable structural material that preserves and supports plant life. By focusing on care and moving beyond classification, we move towards a relationship with invasive plants that goes beyond extermination. Because the mobile, sensing root structures of plants are primarily subterranean and unseen, there is a misconception of plants as passive, fixed beings available for extraction. In opposition to this extractive view, Weaving Weeds identifies and celebrates the possibilities of learning from plants’ intelligent root structures to build novel, adaptive, and regenerative materials.