On a trip to Indonesia, industrial designer Julian Reuter spotted some rattan handicrafts at a local market. He was fascinated by the pliability of the material. Imagine, for instance, achieving these kinds of bends with conventional timber:

Upon returning home to Germany, Reuter contacted fellow industrial designer Peter Kraft. The two had been buddies at design school in Aachen and were "always looking for materials and solutions that combine ecology, design and economy." What could they do with this new material?

Investigating the material, they learned that rattan is a monocot, like bamboo. Monocots do not exhibit secondary growth. What that means is, unlike a tree that gets thicker as it grows taller, rattan only grows upwards, staying at a constant diameter. It also does not develop branches. So unlike wood, a milled rattan beam would have no knots, and no growth rings in its cross section. It would also have, on its own, no ability to form structure beyond holding its own weight up, which is why you don't see rattan beams.

Reuter and Kraft came up with a clever manufacturing technique. The two formed a company, Karuun, after coming up with not one, but four different previously-unseen applications for rattan.

All four products start off with the same production method: Rattan trunks are milled perfectly square on four faces. A number of these milled trunks are then laminated together.

With multiple trunks thus laminated together, none of them can bend, and structure is achieved. And because the grain lines in rattan are dead-straight, there's no visible joint where one piece has been joined to another. This resultant monolith is the first product, Karuun Block.

Karuun Block can be machined using ordinary woodworking tools. It doesn't splinter and there's no knots, making it ideal for furniture.

The second product is Karuun Stripe. This is created by peeling off a layer of Karuun Block, creating a veneer that is then laminated with a thin cellulose coating to prevent cracking. It can be dyed with colors. Also, the stuff can be cut so thin that light can be passed through it.

The third product is Karuun 3D. By laminating together multiple layers of Karuun Stripe, and alternating the fiber direction of each layer in the manner of plywood, the resultant material can be molded into extreme shapes rivaling plastics or fiberglass.

The fourth product is Karuun Shine. This is created by slicing a 3mm- to 5mm-thick horizontal layer of Karuun Block. This allows light to actually shine through the capillaries of the material, as well as allowing airflow. These Shine pieces can be used as acoustic panels or incorporated into lighting design, and they also have a degree of malleability.

Here's a rundown from the company:

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You can learn more about any of the specific applications by clicking on its link above. If you'd like to learn more about the material in general, they've got a technical FAQ here.