John Krubsack
Born1858
Wisconsin
Died1941
NationalityUnited States American
Occupation(s)Banker, Farmer
Known forThe 'Chair that Grew'

John Krubsack (1858–1941) conceived, planted and shaped a "living chair", a growing tree shaped like a chair. [1] [2] Krubsack was a banker and farmer from Embarrass, Wisconsin, United States,[3] who started growing the tree in 1903, dubbing it "the chair that grew".[4] [5]

Biography

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Krubsack, of Embarrass, Wisconsin,[3] was a man with many different talents. He made cheese, did farming and his property was landscaped, as well as being the first to have running water in the area. He enjoyed creating rustic furniture. [6][7] Which lead to his hobby of growing a chair. [8] His "living chair" was realized in 1914 along the way he pioneered shaping with living trees. [1]

Process of tree shaping

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John Krubsack's chair was created by shaping trees while they were growing. [1] In 1903 he was the first to do tree shaping in the United States. [8]

John Krubsck's chair was harvested in 1914. A year later is displayed at the International Exposition Panama-pacific World's fair 1915. Robert Ripley featured the horticultural chair in his syndicated newspaper column titled believe it or not. John Krubsack was offered $5000 for his chair. He chose instead to keep the chair and put it on display at Noritage Furniture [9] The chair spent many years inside a display case of Noritage Furniture. Once the company was closed down, the chair was retained by Dennis Krubsack. [10]

 
Chair grown by John Krubsack in Wisconsin, United States in 1919

History of the chair on show

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  • 1915 at the world's Fair
  • Ripley's Believe It or Not column
  • feature in film of how it was created (find out name of said film)
  • On display at furniture store.

See also

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  • Topiary – Horticulture practice to shape trees and shrubs
  • Espalier – Pruning/tying branches to flat structure
  • Pleaching – Interwoven branches to form a hedge, fence or lattice
  • Bonsai – Japanese art of training plants to mimic miniature versions of large trees
  • Arthur Wiechula – Tree shaping theorist
  • Axel Erlandson – Farmer and Tree shaping artist
  • Christopher Cattle – British furniture designer and Tree shaping artist
  • Richard Reames – American artist, arborsculptor, nurseryman, writer and public speaker
  • Fab Tree Hab – Hypothetical Concept of ecological home design
  • Gilroy Gardens – Family amusement and nature park
  • Full Grown – Company that grows trees into furniture and sculpture

References

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  1. ^ a b c Thomas Vallas (25 May 2017). "Using nature in architecture Building a living house with mycelium and trees". Frontiers of Architectural Research. peer reviewer Luc Courard.
  2. ^ Title Turning young trees into living works of art Date 31 August 2014 Publisher Sunday Observer (Sri Lanka, India) HT Digital Streams Ltd.
  3. ^ a b "1940 U.S. census". archives.com. 7 September 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2021. {{cite web}}: Check |archive-url= value (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ^ Daniel Mack (1996-12-31), Making Rustic Furniture: The Tradition, Spirit, and Technique with Dozens of Project Ideas (illustrated ed.), Lark Books, p. 160, ISBN 1-887374-12-4
  5. ^ "Only Natural Grown Chair". Shawano Leader Newspaper. Wisconsin Historical Society. 1922-10-19. Retrieved 2019-02-15.
  6. ^ "The Chair That Grew". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 2022-01-23.
  7. ^ "The chair that grew: John Krubsack's first ever living chair". Walls with Stories. 2017-07-04. Retrieved 2022-01-23.
  8. ^ a b Zoë Hendon; Anne Massey (2019). Design, History and Time: New Temporalities in a Digital Age (first ed.). Great Britain: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. ISBN 978-1-3500-6066-1.
  9. ^ David Quammen (1996-12-31), The Tangled Tree: A Radical New History of Life, Simon and Schuster, p. 272, ISBN 9781476776620
  10. ^ Laskow, Sarah (2018-02-06). "What Happened to the First Chair Grown From Living Trees?". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 2022-01-23.
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Category:1858 births Category:1941 deaths Category:Outsider artists Category:American bankers Category:American horticulturists Category:People from Waupaca County, Wisconsin