Artist and TED fellow Adital Ela creates stools made from earth and natural fibers in a unique compression process developed based on a long-term study of materials and ancient building methods.

Describing herself as a “designer-gatherer,” all of the materials used to make the ‘Terra’ stools were gathered from construction and agricultural waste, and from the natural environment.

The TED blog notes that she combines her heritage with the science of production for sustainability. Creating the Terra stools requires no energy and uses only local, organic materials.

When the stools are no longer needed, users can leave them outside where they will slowly break down and return to the earth. Or they can add water and mold them into a different functional object.

Ela plans to teach this technique to others by selling Terra kits and launching a pilot program of workshops in Jerusalem. You can learn more about Adital Ela’s project and inspiration in the talk from TEDxJerusalem below:

Adital Ela