Cultivated human meat, biobased band aids, beer waste to nanotech and more: The Digest’s Top 8 Innovations for the week of June 30th

#6 Wool urn offers “comforting symbolism” before biodegrading

In Sweden, architecture and design studio Claesson Koivisto Rune has created a biodegradable cremation urn made from wool and vegetable-tanned leather.

Dubbed Ocke, the urn was commissioned by Systrarna Ocklind, an independent funeral home in Stockholm run by sisters Anna and Sofia Ocklind. According to Claesson, the urns break down in just months.

“Textile burial cowlings have been used for bodies and caskets since the beginning of history,” Claesson Koivisto Rune co-founder Mårten Claesson tells Dezeen. “Probably it is a question of nursing and care that lies deeply rooted within us, regardless of tradition or belief. Wool is also of course a natural fiber that has been used to warm humans throughout history, with the unique ability to hold warmth both when dry and moist. In this case, these functions are of course symbolic and that is where the importance lies. There is a comforting symbolism in the fact that everything goes back to the earth 100%.”

More on the story, here.