Laser scanning | robotic fabrication | Jan 2019

Exploring natural wood

The making of non-standardized components

In this workshop, we used laser scanning, robotic fabrication, and digital design tools to explore new possibilities for using natural materials in architectural construction by tracing crooked wood’s natural form and importing it into a digital design environment (Rhino). We could use Grasshopper plugins to handle point cloud, define structures and growth patterns. This made it possible to transform the natural shape of the wood into arbitrary building components and later manufacture these polymorphic components by programming a 6-axis ABB robot and a 5-axis CMS router.

Wood is normally used as a standardised construction material that has been transformed from a natural tree log into box-shaped timber. This workshop was about rethinking the way materials are use and how we can limit the resource waste. By collecting, scanning, and analysing we were able to cut complex geometries into the natural wood and create new components to design with – both in a physical and digital environment.