Colombian brand Fango has combined design with storytelling to produce the Ibuju furniture collection from yaré fibre that aims to address deforestation concerns in the Amazon.
Informed by the brand’s creative director Francisco Jaramillo’s home in Colombia, the collection was created to explore the relationship between local artisans and their environment.
The collection includes a table, bench and stool made from a natural fibre called yaré – a root that grows around the trunks of trees in the Colombian Amazon, harvested by local communities.
These pieces draw on indigenous Amazonian aesthetics to celebrate the region’s culture while aiming to emphasise the need to preserve its biodiversity.
The designs reimagine traditional wooden furniture in a natural material that doesn’t require cutting down the tree on which it grows.
“This is where I try to reference a piece of furniture that could have been constructed from wood, but is now made from a regenerative fibre that solely depends on the tree that could have been felled,” Jaramillo told Dezeen.
Described as neofolk, the furniture also aims to draw attention to the social and economic implications of deforestation, with the loss of the jungle placing strain on local communities that are dependent on its resources.
“The excessive demand for wood leads to logging and consequently, the possible disappearance of other species,” said Jaramillo.
“[Yaré] is adversely affected by deforestation in the jungle and its disappearance implies a social and economic loss for these communities.”
Crafted by local artisans near Medellín, Colombia, the furniture was created using traditional weaving techniques, with each piece taking up to eight weeks to manufacture.
“The objective of this collection is to document and make visible to designers, creators and the general public the importance of using local resources responsibly,” Jaramillo explained.
Fango initiated the Ibuju project to showcase an environmentally conscious approach to design and emphasises the responsibility of designers to adopt sustainable practices.
“Discussing the exuberant Colombia in terms of its fauna and flora and the potential changes due to agricultural activities and timber extraction translates, in some way, into the responsibility we have as designers to help raise awareness,” said Jaramillo.
This project has been shortlisted in the sustainable design (consumer) category of Dezeen Awards 2024.
Other projects that have also been shortlisted in this category include the Alder Collection by Mater and Aloe by Kirkby Design.
