YIYU DENG

This project explores the ecological recovery of natural environments after wildfires. Inspired by the 2025 Los Angeles Hill Fire, which destroyed more than 57,000 acres of forest. Designers conducted a field survey in the Thursley Common National Nature Reserve in Godalming, England, to observe the recovery of the reserve after a wildfire. It uses natural elements such as fire, wood, moss, and lichen to create a visual representation of life’s continuous cycle of death and renewal.

The project combines charred wood, wood, living moss, and lichen to highlight the strong contrast between order, chaos and renewal. Through the use of traditional woodworking techniques including wood burning, tenon cutting, and lathe turning, ASHBORN transforms dead and living things into a series of handcrafted living sculpture.