Key Points
- Instead of spinning short, brittle fibres, the team felts and layers whole blades, preserving plant identity while creating usable sheets.
- Loom tension breaks grass; hybrid hand methods (braiding, layering, pressing) turn irregularity into a design asset.
- Dyes extracted from grass via boiling/fermentation yield subtle, site-specific hues; colour as landscape record.
- Works best in low-friction interiors (panels, acoustic surfaces). Natural binders/resins improve handling while keeping biodegradability.
- Small-batch and local today; future pathways include agri-waste composites, bio-resins, and collaborations with farmers and engineers.
Full interview with Akash Kumar
1. How are grass fibres processed and transformed into a usable textile material? What challenges did you face?
Our journey with grass began with curiosity and respect for its overlooked potential. Often dismissed as too ordinary or fragile, grass is rarely considered a serious design material. To challenge that, we experimented with drying, splitting, and curing techniques to preserve its structural integrity.
Unlike fibres such as hemp or flax (→ possible Tocco link), grass fibres are short and brittle - a major technical hurdle. The breakthrough came when we stopped forcing grass to behave like traditional fibres and instead embraced its uniqueness. By felting and layering whole blades, we created a material that preserves the identity of the plant while giving it function. It’s less about industrial refinement, more about craftsmanship and patience.
2. What initial challenges did you face using traditional weaving techniques, and how did you adapt them?
Our first attempts at conventional weaving failed - grass fibres are simply too short and delicate to withstand loom tension. This forced a creative pivot: rather than impose industry standards, we reimagined weaving as an intuitive, adaptive process.
We explored hand-weaving, braiding, layering, and pressing, developing a hybrid process that celebrates irregularities as authentic expressions of the material. We shifted from a mindset of control to one of collaboration with nature. The result? A material that feels alive, tactile, and rooted in the landscape it came from.
3. What role do natural dyes play in the Grassland Crafted project? How do you extract dyes directly from grass?
Natural dyes deepen our connection between material and place. Grass provides subtle, site-specific pigments: earthy greens, muted yellows, and soft browns, extracted via boiling, fermentation, and seasonal processing.
These dyes aren't bold - they’re atmospheric, ever-changing, and location-specific. Each hue becomes a record of the land, reinforcing our ethical stance against synthetic dyes. Here, color becomes a form of storytelling.
4. How do you assess the durability and longevity of grass-based materials in design applications?
Durability is a contextual question. Grass is not a high-performance fibre, so we don't pretend it is. It works best in low-friction applications: wall panels, interior surfaces, or acoustic coverings - especially when treated with natural binders or coatings.
But durability doesn’t always mean forever. Grass is biodegradable, offering a different model of value - one based on circularity, regenerative cycles, and responsible return to earth.
5. What future do you envision for grass in design, from fashion to interiors?
Grass is still in its infancy as a design material. Its fragility limits its role in fast-paced sectors like fashion, but in interior design, it’s full of promise: acoustic panels, tactile surfaces, artisanal wall coverings.
Grass invites us to rethink abundance. It's often waste, but with intention, it becomes resource. Rather than compete with industrial fibres, grass can carve out a niche for slow, narrative-driven design.
6. How do you balance aesthetics and functionality in your material development?
Each prototype is tested not only for its visual appeal but for its functionality - its flexibility, handling, and performance in varied conditions. We often layer, press, or reinforce grass with natural resins, striking a balance between form and function.
We focus on contextual use: wall coverings that offer tactile warmth, or furnishings that combine expression with performance. We let the material's inherent traits guide its purpose.
7. How do you address limitations such as availability and scalability of grass as a material?
Scalability is a challenge - grass processing is labour-intensive. But rather than force industrial scale, we embrace the principles of slow design: small-batch, locally-rooted, and deeply crafted.
Future collaborations - with scientists, engineers, and local farmers - may open scalable paths: using agricultural by-products, or combining grass with bio-based resins to create composites.
8. What’s next for Grassland Crafted? Are you exploring new materials or techniques?
We’re expanding our palette - reeds, wetland plants, agricultural waste. Each brings a unique story and untapped potential. We're also working on hybrid techniques: blending grass with other natural fibres, exploring new bio-resins, and refining natural dye methods.
More than just a material project, Grassland Crafted is becoming a design philosophy - where ecology, storytelling, and responsibility converge.
