Scavenging

Downed But Not Out

Trees that have been cut down due to disease often end up in landfills. But tree services in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania bring them to John Metzler’s 10,000-square-foot studio, Urban Tree Forge, where he and his workers give them a new life of sorts, repurposing this would-be junk into furniture, sculptures, and more. Metzler also uses scrapwood salvaged from urban building sites.

“Before the earth beneath Western Pennsylvania fueled one of America’s great industrial cities, it forged our first natural resource: Pennsylvania hardwood,” Metzler writes. “The mills are gone but the forest lives on in a thriving urban setting…. Our urban wood has character that can only be created by the challenge of city life….

“Re-using city trees not only helps us keep history healthy, it helps us sustain a healthy environment. It reduces our carbon footprint, lessens our dependence on wood from national forests, and keeps natural resources local. Let the urban forest live on.”