Created by an architect turned furniture designer, Project Import Export (or PIE) was founded by Bannavis Andrew Sribyatta, who wanted to explore the ultimate concept of “living space” in relation to the complexity of nature. Using many quickly renewable materials like water hyacinth, liana, bamboo and rattan, PIE takes several design cues from nature (sort of an artful form of biomimicry [www.sundancechannel.com]) and uses the materials’ physical properties to his advantage.

PIE’s design philosophy is to make furniture an art form; the collections’ curvaceous profiles and rich textures generate warmth and sensuality. Take the two pieces pictured above, for example; “alpha” (left) takes its obvious inspiration from the alphabet, but combines it with an Asian-inspired minimalism that feels right at home in the contemporary world. “Easy lounge”, on the other hand, tends more toward smooth lines, making it more comfortable before you ever even sit down in it. Both designs are made from bamboo [www.sundancechannel.com].

“Stomach” (pictured above) also has a pretty obvious design inspiration, but what we like best about this one is that the design itself doesn’t belie the materials. Made from rattan — a material usually reserved for frumpy patio furniture and the like — you’d never guess that these chairs used to be long, sinewy reeds. The material is updated and given a fresh, modern (if stomach-inspired) look that not only looks great, but is equally functional to boot.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about PIE is that they don’t subscribe to one specific design philosophy; it’s not all modern, or Asian-inspired, or minimal, but it all uses eco-friendly materials to produce inspiring organic shapes and functional, artful furniture that can blend with many decors. Learn more about them at their website [www.projectimportexport.com]; several of the designs are available from Vivavi [www.vivavi.com] as well. So, how many pieces of PIE do you want?

From time to time, TreeHugger finds furniture or other interior designers who really ‘get it’ — that is, understand that being planet-friendly and looking sleek and modern are not mutually exclusive things — and we like to highlight their good work. San Francisco-based David Brunicardi is one such designer, but before we dig in, a quick disclaimer. While we know that we as a society cannot shop our way to sustainability, TreeHugger thinks it’s important to know that such options exist, so that when the time comes to buy new stuff (and let’s not kid ourselves, we all have to buy stuff at some point), you are armed with the knowledge and know the options that are available. That said, sometimes it’s good to have something nice to look at.

David Brunicardi produces suave, versatile, hand-made furniture with a decidedly modern aesthetic. Utilizing sustainably-harvested wood, quickly renewable materials (like bamboo [www.sundancechannel.com]) and reclaimed or ‘rediscovered’ wood, the collection of furniture offers a wide variety of looks while retaining top-notch functionality. We’re big fans of the Sande ‘Wave’ coffee table, at right; inspired by the flow of water, the table ‘flows’ from one layer to the next creating space for books, CD’s, remotes…whatever you need. Made from Sande wood, a sustainable hardwood from Ecuador, it’s the first in a collection using the wood, and one of our favorites.

Equally good-looking and versatile is the Sande ‘Mag’ coffee table, which functions equally well as a bench and offers a unique solution for storing your favorite magazines and other coffee table fare. Taking cues from nature (and utilizing the beautiful natural grains in the wood), the table, like the rest of his collection, is made to order by hand, allowing for lots of customization to fit your specific needs.

Representing a near-perfect marriage of organic and modern materials, the “Swamp Thing” series, with the dining set pictured, showcases the beauty that old wood can bring to new furniture. Made with ‘rediscovered’ 200+ year-old wood from a wet southern estate where over 1000 trees were blown over by a storm in 1998, the natural imperfections are left intact (knots, worm holes, pitch pockets, spalting, etc.) because they are what make the wood so unique and so real. Perhaps best of all, the wood is certified by SmartWood [www.smartwood.org], the Forest Stewardship Council’s leading forest certifier (more info on the FSC can be found in this earlier entry [www.sundancechannel.com]). There’s a lot more to see at David Brunicardi’s website [www.dbfurniture.com], including more furniture for sitting, sleeping and storage; some of his furniture is available online from Design Public [www.designpublic.com], and it can all be had with an inquiry through the designer’s site [www.dbfurniture.com].

From the very beginning, TreeHugger has been interested in finding ways to live a greener lifestyle without having to sleep in a cave or wear burlap sacks; we want living green to look good. The good news is that there are countless ways to do so, and you’ll see lots of them on this blog before long; first we wanted to introduce a few of the terms you’re likely to see more of when it comes to interiors. Things like furniture, upholstery, wallcoverings and flooring may seem simple enough — a chair is a frame with a couple of pads, right? — but there’s a lot that goes in to the things we furnish and decorate our homes with that we think it’s important to know.

When it comes to wood used in furniture and flooring, there are a couple things that TreeHugger looks for. Perhaps the greenest option is reclaimed or salvaged wood; it often comes from old buildings that have been taken down, so it’s already been cut down, milled and processed once and no trees need to fall. For virgin wood, we like to look for wood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council [www.fsc.org], who painstakingly insure that the trees are harvested in a way that, in short, assures that there will continue to be a forest (along with everything that typically lives in the forest) where they’re cutting from. Bamboo, which we already mentioned at length [www.sundancechannel.com], is another good option, along with other quickly renewable materials like rattan and sea grass.

How wood is finished and put together is also an important consideration. Glues and polyurethanes are often used, and they’re bad news for indoor air quality. You see, just about everything in your home off-gases whatever is inside of it; think of it as a way for your furniture, flooring & walls to “breathe.” When there are toxic chemicals in there (as with lots of glues and wood finishes), they come out to, contributing to poor indoor air quality and increasing your risk for health problems. In fact, the air quality inside is often 10 – 100 times worse than outside, and is compounded in the winter (when the windows are shut most of the time) and when your home is well-insulated (which is a good thing for energy-efficiencies’ sake). Formaldehyde and flame retardants in upholstery and cushions are also a big contributor to toxic off-gassing, as are the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) found in paint. The good news is that non-toxic, water-based alternatives are available for all of these, so there’s no reason to poison your home with these nasties. Remember, just about everything off-gases, so it’s important to consider what you bring in to your home because you’ll be breathing it for years to come. Greenguard [www.greenguard.org] is a certification which ensures furniture is low toxicity, and can help you find furniture that won’t contribute to negative indoor air quality.

Lastly, something we like to see in furniture and interior construction is the efficient use of materials. Building furniture with bent plywood is a great example, because it uses only about 1/8th (that’s about 12%) of the wood that other techniques typically use. This is also where materials like medium-density fiberboard (MDF) come in handy, because they’re made from the sawdust that results from milling and working with other wood — just be sure it’s not made with polyurethane or toxic glues. The story is the same with plywood: it can be extremely green, when it carries a sustainable certification and doesn’t use toxic binders, but can be pretty nasty otherwise. The number one rule: do your homework, and look for the big three (certification, no toxic substances and material efficiency). Stay tuned for some fabulous examples and tips for getting greener in your home.