Design for Resilient Post-Disaster Wood Waste Upcycling: The Katrina Furniture Project Experience and its “Legacy” in a Digital Perspective

Wood is one of the main materials used in buildings and furniture worldwide. After a disaster, indeed, a considerable amount of timber waste is produced. Wood waste is generally downcycled—i.e., recycled into low-quality products, incinerated for energy production—or, worse, landfilled, but in a post-disaster situation, it not only represents a quantitative issue and an environmental hazard but also acquires a cultural, social, economic and emotional value, thus requiring more effective ways to be managed. The Katrina Furniture Project, led by Sergio Palleroni in 2006 for the regions hit by hurricanes Katrina and Rita, provides a valuable precedent. Through pilot initiatives in New Orleans, furniture design emerged as a resilient practice within the reconstruction process. Affected people were involved for six weeks in a collaborative design workshop, enabling the generation of income, the acquisition of professional skills and, moreover, the rebuilding of a sense of community through collective work and the intrinsic gathering value of the crafted objects. The research develops a desk analysis and an on-field survey to reflect on the social, cultural, economic and environmental impacts of this case study and on the role of furniture design for resilient wood waste upcycling. Finally, the paper discusses the “legacy” of such practices from a digital perspective, analyzing limitations and opportunities within current research in design and manufacturing.