Sporeform
Material-Led Furniture Inspired by Living Systems
Sporeform is a dining table designed for a family friend — a study in natural composition inspired by the morphology, texture, and color of lichen found in Yellowstone National Park.
The concept explores possibilities of bringing nature’s influences of forms, patterns and colors indoors.
Conceptual Design
Sporeform is Inspired by the texture and composition of lichen — a plant-like species that thrives in symbiosis — this design captures the rich morphological forms and colors found in nature. The piece explores how design can bring nature’s adaptive logic into human environments, fostering a dialogue between structure and living systems.
Ideation
The Sporeform concept is part of a material ecology study — investigating how lichen’s slow, symbiotic growth can inform surface, structure, and setting in design. Though differing in scale and use, it speak in shared tones: resilience, adaptation, and environmental intelligence.
Process Highlights
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Pattern extracted from lichen reference images
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Designed surface topography via hand sketching and digital modeling
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Color layering techniques with pigment washes and metal enameling
Mimicking Lichen
The tabletop surface of the Sporeform Table is created through a meticulous enameling process, combining ancient techniques with digitally derived surface logic. At its core, this is an act of layered inscription — where color, heat, and metal converge to tell the story of natural growth.
Materials:
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Enameled steel, pigment washes, welded base
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Process Highlights:
Lichen morphology mapping
Pigment layering over enamel
Parametric surface generation
This design explores how natural influences such as form, pattern, and color can be translated into indoor environments, bringing the quiet intelligence of the outdoors into daily living.
Sporeform
A surface shaped by fire, form, and ecology —
where every layer reflects the quiet intelligence of lichen.
Sporeform Dimensions
Table Top
Enameled Table Top
Outer Framed Diameter 73"
Inner Diameter 70"
Table Legs
Sustainable Recycled Wood
Metal Components for mount
Enamel Prototype
Enamel Process Overview
Formed through a layered enameling process on steel.
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Pigment layering: Fine enamel powders are sifted and brushed in translucent washes, then kiln-fired at high heat. Multiple firings allow color to pool, diffuse, and react — mimicking organic surface variation.
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Parametric surface: The steel base is subtly shaped using digital modeling of lichen macroforms, guiding how enamel flows and settles.
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Result: A durable, glass-like surface with depth, texture, and ecological memory — where each color layer responds to form and fire.
Prototypes
Indoor Enamelled Dinning Table
This refined, sculptural table top brings the same natural logic indoors — but with emphasis on intimacy, precision, and surface narrative.
The enameled metal top captures the microscopic structure of Yellowstone lichen through color, texture, and topography.
Sporeform is a study in shared ecologies — where indoor and outdoor forms converge through lichen’s logic. It invites us to dwell within layered surfaces, to see growth not as decoration,
but as design.