Fighting the Heat

The Paulownia Tomentosa is also known as Kiri tree in Japanese or as the “Blauglockenbaum” in German, is the fastest growing timber tree in the world. With its astounding strength and undoubtful lightness, the tree grows in its first 2 years to be around 6 meters. It is extremely frost resistant due to the hollow trunk, that drains all the water out of the tree during frost times. It can sustain down to -20 degrees Celsius. It absorbs 4x the amount of CO2 over its lifespan, as the poplar tree (originally thought to consume the most C02). It has been called the world climate tree, as it grows insanely fast, has great wood that can be used for furniture due to its lightweight, and its high rate of CO2 absorption over its lifespan. As climate change progresses and cities continue to heat up, we need solutions for microclimate conservation. As wood continues to be a luxurious raw material that is depleted through fast and cheap consumtion, I present a concept design for Ikea to adopt in their product range: The Frakta-kiri bag. As many people don’t have gardens, I suggest the comical gesture of planting a Paulownia in an Ikea bag, rendering it mobile. No matter if you move to a new apartment or don’t have good or deep enough soil in your garden, you will most certainly be able to chill in the shade of your ginormous Paulownia leaves that are growing from the iconic Ikea Frakta bag that I expect many have in their household. It’s like having an orchid on your windowsill (just an orchid that grows 3m annually). When it’s time to move it, just grab a friend and carry it through your local city, and you will be sure to make more friends on the way.