Sustainable and free of plastic: the revival of rattan furniture and why it’s here to stay

Rattan is ‘totally sustainable’, ‘grows like grass’ and is ‘durable and long-lasting’, says an Australian architect based in Thailand

Eco-chic style is upping demand for the pieces made by a Filipino designer, and by a brand with Hong Kong origins whose desks are suited to social distancing

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Peacock chairs by Filipino designer Kenneth Cobonpue. Rattan has been used for hundreds of years in furniture, and the durable, long-lasting reed is currently enjoying a revival.

Published: 3:15pm, 22 Jul 2020Updated: 3:32pm, 27 Jul 2020

From budget to bespoke, a renewed interest in rattan furniture suggests the material is having another moment.

A reed that grows abundantly in Southeast Asia, this natural, sustainable material has been woven into useful products for hundreds of years. Although its popularity has ebbed and flowed, rattan has always been present. So why the current revival?

“Because eco-chic design is the new luxury product,” says Patrick Keane, an Australian architect based in Thailand. “People want to go back to nature.”

Keane calls it a movement, because he believes it’s here to stay. “This can’t be a passing trend,” he says. “Society is becoming more aware of the danger of plastics – which emit caustic gases throughout their life – as well as the environmental degradation its manufacture causes.”

Thailand-based Patrick Keane is the Australian architect behind Enter Projects. Photo: Jesse Cotteril

Rattan, a naturally renewable palm, is “totally sustainable”, he adds. “It grows like grass [and is] really durable and long-lasting”.

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