Straw Bale Infographic

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[av_heading heading=’Straw Bale Structure Installation’ tag=’h3′ color=’custom-color-heading’ custom_font=’#719430′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=’30’ subheading_active=” subheading_size=’15’ padding=’0′][/av_heading]

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Entitled ‘Waves of [Multifunctional] Grain,’ this installation communicates the multiple functions of grain crops: in particular, the potential to reuse wasted straw as a building material.

Architect Adam Jonas and I collaborated on the project for a 4-month installation at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum as part of an exhibit to showcase the powers of plants. 

We wanted to communicate the potential for a closed-loop system inherent within this plant’s life-cycle: We grow a crop, eat the grain, and can use the waste straw for building and insulation. It’s a perfect cycle.

An information graphic installed on the back of a straw-bale bench communicates the life-cycle of common grains; showing how the waste product from the production of food-grains (such as wheat, barley and rye) can be used as a local and sustainable building material. The graphic also provides instructions for the step-by-step process to constructing your own straw bale structure. 

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Minnesota Landscape Arboretum logo

This project was selected for the 2010 installation at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum’s ‘Powerhouse Plants’ exhibition. Many thanks to our friends Erik Buzenberg and Troy Gallas for all their help constructing. 

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