Franklin Thread

“At present, we are like the separate filaments of flax before thread is formed, without strength because without connection” -Benjamin Franklin, 1747

Franklin Thread is a living, actively growing installation that explores and envisions how organic materials and industrial byproducts might be used to build a more sustainable future. The project involves the act of growing, harvesting, and retting (see reverse side for process description) flax, accompanied by a sculptural wall made out of a flax-based biogenic building material called “flaxcrete.” Richards recently developed flaxcrete with his students through his work as a professor at Temple University, where he teaches courses in architectural design, environmental systems, and ecological design.

The installation is a journey through three distinct sections of a massive “thread” representing the different phases of flaxcrete production. A Benjamin Franklin quotation from 1747, “at present, we are like the separate filaments of flax before thread is formed, without strength because without connection,” which inspired Richards’ work, is painted on the retted flax bound together.

Flax was an essential part of the agricultural-based economy of Benjamin Franklin’s Philadelphia, but its use in North America has since largely disappeared. The growth of flax can be understood as a catalyst: it offers a new way of thinking about building in this masonry-centric city; its fibers can be used to manufacture textiles and paper, as they were in Philadelphia pre-World War II; its seeds are food, offering many health benefits; it has the potential to remediate brownfield sites; and it supports pollinators during its growth.

The artwork was the selected proposal for Art on the Parkway, an annual open call for a public art commission organized by the Association for Public Art, in partnership with the Parkway Council and Philadelphia Parks & Recreation.

THIS INSTALLATION CONTAINS THREE DISTINCT SECTIONS OF A “THREAD.”

The active growth of flax. Richards removed a line of sod, laid top soil, and planted the flax on June 4, 2026. Flax begins as a green stalk with small leaves, produces purple flowers, and then transitions to a waxy yellow. At the same time, small seed capsules form below the flowering section of the plant. Flax is typically harvested 1-3 months after planting, and if it is being used for fiber, it must be pulled up by the root, not cut.

The retting of flax. This is a natural process in which the plant’s fibers are separated from its woody core (shives) through contact with moisture. The harvested flax is laid down evenly on grass, allowing fungi and bacteria to naturally dissolve the pectin that binds the fibers, making it easy to separate the plant’s elements. The flax is then fully dried and a breaking technique is used to extract the fibers for textiles, seeds for food, and shives for flaxcrete building blocks.

A sculptural wall of flaxcrete blocks. Flaxcrete, a material developed by Richards and his students, is a biogenic building material made of flax shives and a mineral binder (lime), and reinforced with flax fibers. The shives were sourced from last year’s flax planting cycle and Canada. Richards’ wall is laterally supported by flax twine trusses and vertically with recycled black nylon rods, an assembly method that avoids carbon-intensive mortar and allows the blocks to be disassembled and reused. Rather than relying on energy-intensive manufacturing processes, flaxcrete leverages the carbon-storage potential of plant life.