Hydro Grow
Furnitures that grows with moisture
2025
MATERIAL STUDIES PRODUCT DESIGN
This project explores the hygroscopic properties of wood, where its fibers expand or contract in response to humidity in the surrounding environment. By embracing the inherent nature of materials, this characteristic is harnessed to create products that naturally take shape when sprayed with water and dried—much like watering a plant and observing its growth. Here, form follows material and nature, allowing design to emerge organically from the material’s behavior.
Hygroscopic properties
The scale of pine cone open and close as they warp depending on humidty.
Similarily, wood absorbs and releases moisture from environment, causing fibers to expand or contract, leading to warping.
Can this natural tendency be controlled to create intentional shapes?
Singular sheets
Bimorph layers
Structure of biomorph layers
Humidity testing with varied thickness
Form explorations
Prototyping
Lamination Process
applying glue on longitudinal cut white oak
aying down tangential sheets on top
laying down tangential sheets on top
clamped down
Testing
Grow a coat rack
Receive the coat rack in a flat-packed package, mist it with water, and watch its branches gradually unfold over a week—like nurturing a tree to life.
Grow a table
Receive the side table in a flat-packed package, mist it with water, and watch its curvatures gradually take form over a week.