In Latvia, dense forest covers nearly half of the country, making it one of Europe’s greenest nations. The trees, primarily consisting of pine, birch, white alder, aspen and conifers, make up around three million hectares of the land. The Latvian people have developed a close affinity with their forests, particularly with the abundant pine trees, due to the high economical and cultural value that they bring to the country. Historically in Latvia, pine trees provided food, medicine and tools but nowadays they are generally used by large national companies as a cheap wood resource. This mass cutting process destroys the forest fauna and reduces its diversity. 

Inspired by the abundant nature in her homeland, Latvian designer Sarmite Polakova began to research raw materials and sustainable solutions that could reduce the waste generated by the tree cutting industry. After graduating from the Design Academy Eindhoven (DAE) in 2015, she developed the project PineSkins; this is an initiative that uses the pine tree’s inner bark, that is discarded during mass tree cutting, to create a versatile leather-like material. 

Working in collaboration with tree cutters, Polakova harvests the bark directly after the tree is cut down. Each piece of bark is unique; its width depends on the size and age of the tree, while its pattern is determined by the branches that have detached. After harvesting, the fresh bark is treated with natural ingredients to create a soft material, before being enhanced with colour pigments and natural wax.

PineSkins has been exhibited in various design exhibitions: Earth Matters curated by Lidewij Edelkoort at The TextielMuseum, Maison & Objet, Dutch Design Week, Design Week Shanghai and Milan Design Week. Her work has also been published in the magazines Frame, Ad and Elle Décor.

We had the exciting opportunity to interview Sarmite Polakova and learn more about her career and the PineSkins project.

You left your home in Latvia to study at the Design Academy Eindhoven (DAE) ; tell us more about this and how it led you to create the PineSkins project.

I grew up in Latvia spending a lot of my time playing between the sea and the forest. I don’t think that I realised how much this experience influenced my identity before studying at DAE. When asked to identify something unique about ourselves during our studies, I noticed that my ideas always came back to the topics of nature and natural materials. The year that I spent in Japan learning about Japanese design and crafts, prior to moving to Eindhoven, was an additional influence to this. In Japan, I was carried away by their art of telling the story of an ordinary material, such as a crop, in such a beautiful and respectful way that encompassed its history and its uses. When moving to Eindhoven, what added to my longing for nature was the distant relationship between people in the city and the natural world; you are not allowed to pluck flowers or branches from the forests there as nature is more protected. In Latvia, you can pick anything from the forest, from berries and nuts to mushrooms. We even get our Christmas tree from the forest as opposed to the supermarket. Thus, when starting my graduation project, I wanted to translate my deep longing for nature into something contemporary by using a single natural resource - pine.

How did your passion for exploring raw materials begin and how importantly do you class material research?

PineSkins began during extensive theoretical, hands-on research on the parts of the pine tree that are usually discarded after cutting. In Latvia, people value nature and its resources very highly. In fact, our entire folklore is built around natural rituals. So, how is it possible that our contemporary society only values trees for their timber? To me, it seemed unfair that a tree that had been glorified in the past for providing food, medicine and fresh air now had its value shrunken to an economic price. The timber industry has become such a fast-paced, economy driven business that contrasts the slow speed of tree growing. I wanted to establish a more circular use of forest resources and it seemed natural to introduce an exclusive, hand-harvested material derived from the timber industry. I see using pine bark as an investigation into the tree cutting industry and Lativan forest resources, rather than a complete solution to a problem.

Research is important for me to learn about the material that I’m working with and to understand it. When you want to tell a story about a material that doesn’t come from a store shelf, its identity will begin to unfold during the design process.

We are currently witnessing more designers exploring alternative raw materials and natural byproducts in an attempt to develop new sustainable and circular processes. In 2015, you graduated from the Design Academy Eindhoven and presented PineSkins. What challenges did you face when you started the project back then?

When I graduated in 2015, the trend of sustainability was only in its early development stage. There was some interest from the industry but, as it was so new, people were skeptical too. The focus was more on the sustainable material itself rather than on the whole design cycle. When looking back on this now, I am happy that I had this extra time to develop my project before more interest arose. I am the only designer harvesting and softening pine tree bark in this way, which means that I had to develop the whole system - from harvesting to processing to designing. It took time to find partners to supply the bark, to improve the technical process of developing the bark and, finally, to find a niche where the bark could fit in as a material.

You have developed a technique, using only natural ingredients, to soften the bark of a tree and create a leather-like project. Currently, there is enormous pressure on designers from consumers and the industry to find replacement materials that don’t derive from animals. In your view, what is the designer’s role in this movement?

The role of a designer is to mediate between the industry and society. A designer must educate both sides about what it means to produce and own a circular product. It is great that there is so much global initiative to create amazing biobased materials, binders and production techniques that are planet-friendly. However, often the new materials are not scalable or do not pass the strength and performance tests required.

This is how designers can bridge the gap between the industry expectations and small-scale material creators. On the one hand, they must educate the big companies that sustainable production requires adjustments across the whole production process instead of simply replacing the material used. What about the glue that they’re using? What about the coating? New materials often require specific attention and designers can help alleviate this work by educating big companies on their findings. At the same time, designers can help to elevate sustainable materials to match the industry standard by mixing existing processing techniques with the materials in order to improve the quality.

Your own research encourages others to reflect on the origin of materials. Do you think that the collaboration between designers and other professionals is important and, if so, how do you think this should be done?

Any collaboration is important as we must aim to circulate knowledge on both sides, for example if the Design and Science industries were to combine forces and create new sustainable materials or production techniques. In my own experience, I was met with many skeptical looks when I originally discussed pine tree bark with people. Only through persistence to open up a dialogue can you begin to build a new language together, and thus knowledge can be shared. Besides, production techniques are so diverse these days so it is often difficult for one person to specialise in all of them. This is why we are witnessing more and more platforms being created that allow designers to collaborate with researchers and scientists.

The industrial revolution represented the beginning of the modern world. It has provided mass production, widespread electricity and enormous economic growth. However, this progress came at a high cost - from climate change to the emergence of new global pandemics. It is unfortunate that, currently, many solutions that cause less of a negative impact on the environment are still in the research phase or in small scale production. Do you think that it is essential to develop large-scale solutions or will they result in creating the same problems that we are facing now?

I do think that we will keep facing the same problems for a while before seeing a lasting change in the industry. We are at the very beginning of changing the trade for the better but, for the moment, it remains price and ownership driven. There is currently a huge urge to buy products for a cheaper price; it is not simply the materials in production that need to be changed, but also peoples’ mindset when it comes to spending money. Whilst this is beginning to change in some Western countries, I do not see this shift happening in developing countries due to accessibility and pricing. This is why creating a lasting change in our consumption pattern is now more important than ever before - it needs to become the new standard that everyone strives for globally. That being said, I am not pessimistic but simply cautious about this change.

What advice would you give to designers who are starting their research projects?

Keep working hard and find what is unique about your research. Stay authentic to yourself and be your own best advocate. Don’t be afraid to invest in yourself, it will always pay off later.

Info

Studio Sarmite

by Sarmite Polakova

https://studiosarmite.com/

https://www.instagram.com/studio_sarmite/

Photography

Studio Sarmite

Anastasija Mass

Video

PineSkins - Processes

Editor Gyamfia Osei

Intro & Interview Nina Zulian