The Artichair is an innovative chair made by turning wild artichoke into an eco plastic material invented by designer Spyros Kizis, in an environmentally friendly process of biofuel waste re-use. The ‘Artichoke thistle fiber reinforced plastic’ resulted from combining natural resources, such as Greek artichoke thistle fibers and a biological resin. It was developed through an approach to research that explores current environmental and social issues and could potentially serve as a response to the current economic crisis in the designer’s native Greece, through the development of ecological agriculture.
The final material has been applied in a variety of methods from compression molding to freehand transformations. Importantly, the material has similar properties to glass fiber reinforced plastic but is packed with the benefits of its bio-ingredients and its ecofriendly making process. The Artichair forms part of the Artichair Project – a small collection of furniture made from wild artichoke. The philosophy for this series is based on the relevance of ‘tangible nature’ and how using it in production gives objects their own unique characteristics.
