Design Interior Design Elegant Moss-Covered Furniture for Nature-Lovers Is Preserved With Resin By Kimberley Mok Writer McGill University Cornell University Kimberley Mok is a former architect who covered architecture and the arts for Treehugger starting in 2007. our editorial process Twitter Twitter Kimberley Mok Updated October 11, 2018 ©. Alcarol Share Twitter Pinterest Email Design Tiny Homes Architecture Interior Design Green Design Urban Design Recent years have seen designers merging bits of living nature with furnishing, in the hopes of bringing biophilia or "love of nature" into our homes and into our everyday consciousness. Italian design duo Andrea Forti and Eleonora Dal Farra of Alcarol offer a glimpse into the miniature world of mosses and lichens in their collection of furniture that preserves these organisms in their natural state. © Alcarol Alcarol's nature-minded pieces are edged with clear resin that displays the rough edge of the cut wood in its entirety, showing the existing growth of moss and lichen in plain view. Dubbed "Undergrowth," this shelf design alludes to the symbiotic lifecycle of the tree and its mosses. The designers say:From the forest, they cut planks while preserving the natural edges of the material. From the lumber, they were able to develop a bookshelf that displays the plants in a resin resembling the water that generated their life. © Alcarol © Alcarol It is an "environmental cross-section" that is both aesthetically beautiful and functional at the same time. In another collection called "Fisheye" and "Bricola," the designers take a similar approach, enveloping with resin the decaying wood of timber posts taken from the ports of Venice. It draws on the romantic image of the sinking city, while paying homage to its long-standing and unseen piers. © Alcarol © Alcarol "Dolomyth" is yet another collection of the same principle; blocks of stone, covered with mosses, were taken from an abandoned quarry in the Dolomite mountains and preserved with resin. The result is something monumental and iconic, yet soft, retaining its link to nature. © Alcarol © Alcarol These are lovely pieces that invite us to touch and see; alluding to the mythic spirit of nature and her living processes, Alcarol's elegant collections remind us of the origins of all things. More over at Alcarol.