(Archive) Regrowth

regrowth

"regrowth" explores the connection between computational design and the use of leftover materials within the wood and forestry industry. Through digital technologies, wood is viewed in its naturally grown form, rather than seeing it as a linear, standardized unit.

The evolved geometries are closely studied and analyzed to take advantage of their formal and constructive properties.

The shape and construction of the furniture adapts to the naturally grown geometries. Rather than chopping the branches, they are minimally invasive processes using digital tools and fabrication methods.

The naturally grown form language, which often serves as inspiration for furniture designs, is not elaborately imitated, but consistently and sustainably taken from nature.
regrowth vividly demonstrates how computational tools and digital manufacturing methods can be sensitively applied to the strategic use of leftover materials.

potentials

The timber industry focuses on the lower part of the log in current production processes. Branches and logs which are too small, decolorized or crooked are usually burned, shredded or left in the forest. Although, this scrap wood accounts for up to half of the tree‘s wood volume and has a lot of aesthetic and constructive potential. Branch forks especially have a high strength due to their interwoven fibers. This type of connection is very difficult, almost impossible to recreate. In addition to the forest leftovers other residues are accumulated in the sawmill. The debarked and delimbed logs processed in the sawmill result in up to 40% by-products such as chips and sawdust. In order to utilize the full potential of our resources, established industrial processes are being questioned.
This system gives rise to two approaches, each of which represents an extreme in the handling of residual wood. One makes use of branches with complex shapes, and the other is to use the small fine particles-sawdust. In the interaction of algorithms and natural forms, these show possibilities of how existing potentials of wood resources can be used and show up as new qualities in furniture design.

adaptation

Contemporary design is based on industrialisation and standardization. In conventional industrial processes, raw materials are heavily processed to bring them to standardized dimensions and shapes. By questioning the standardization process of materials, the nature of design changes. Wood is not seen as a linear, formless and endless entity, but in its naturally grown form. In a speculative process, the step of standardizing materials is skipped; instead, the shape and construction of the furniture are adapted to the naturally grown geometries. The branches are minimally invasively machined using digital manufacturing methods.The natural form language is not elaborately imitated, but consistently and sustainably taken from nature. The strengths of computational tools are used to exploit the constructive and formal potential of the material, which has grown over hundreds of years. Design and manufacturing processes are no longer static, but adapt to the material. The furniture pieces embody the growth history of their material, a dynamic process that can be read in the static object.