Digital Design and Production of Complex Timber Structures

Evy Slabbinck – D2P – Design to Production How do you build a complex timber structure with zero errors in record time? Evy Slabbinck from Design-to-Production reveals the answer: merging computational precision with material intelligence. In this interview, we explored bending-active design, digital fabrication workflows, and the philosophy behind projects that push timber to new … Read more

THE MANUFACTURED VERNACULAR 

Image of comparison between a vernacular structure and a modern structure

Turning time-tested vernacular intelligence into scalable, multi-hazard self sufficient building INTRODUCTION See this image above? yes, its comparison between two structures that survived a 6.8 rector scale earthquake in year 2005. The ironic part is , that these vernacular structures hold the carbon friendly intelligence responding towards climate adaptation and structural resistance against earthquakes, yet … Read more

Digital Fabrication Library

In today’s architectural landscape, digital fabrication has significantly expanded the way we design and construct building elements—offering unprecedented accuracy, efficiency, and formal freedom. Techniques such as laser cutting, CNC milling, 3D printing, and robotic manufacturing each bring distinct advantages in terms of material behavior, geometric complexity, and performance potential. RE:CELL Concept The Re:Cell is a … Read more

Morphologies of Making: Four Experiments in Digital Craft

Our digital fabrication journey unfolds through four experiments that explore how material, geometry, and technology negotiate form. Each project challenges a different fabrication technique: laser cutting, CNC milling, 3D printing, and robotic manufacturing, while asking a deeper question: How does digital logic reshape the language of craft? Laser Cutting Tessellated Lightfield This project explores the … Read more

Nidra chair – MRAC & MAEBB Workshop 1.1

Nidra chair

The Nidra Chair was developed within the framework of Workshop 1.1, where we explored robotic milling using the KUKA robotic arm. The design process was guided by a set of conceptual ideas—texture, nest, wings, and storage—which shaped the formal and tactile language of the piece. Inspired by notions of protection, warmth, and well-being, Nidra seeks … Read more

Tectonics of Digital Craft

Digital fabrication enables designers to explore geometries that go beyond traditional construction constraints. The exercise focuses on translating complex geometries into constructible systems that integrate material behaviour, joinery logic, and mass customisation. Each technique allows experimentation with unique fabrication constraints, informing the evolution of the vertical element design. The outputs serve as material and geometric … Read more

Digital Fabrication

THE W-E SERIES WALL-E 3D PRINTING DESIGN INSPIRATION OBJECTIVE To create a modular vertical element that explores the capabilities of 3D printing and is simultaneously architecturally attractive, is structurally strong whilst using minimal material. DESIGN OPTIONS FINAL DESIGN CONCEPT By blending elements from previous prototypes, the final piece combines 2D and 3D forms to exploit … Read more

Introduction to Digital Fabrication: A GAME OF DUALITY !

This term’s digital fabrication explorations investigated the expressive and technical potential of multiple fabrication methods laser cutting, CNC milling, robotic clay extrusion, and 3D printing. While each technique demanded a different workflow and material logic, a common thread emerged: the use of material duality to create depth, contrast, and spatial effect. By combining two materials … Read more

Machine Thinking

Introduction to Digital Fabrication Team : Sejin Park & Hasan Hirji CNC Milling During the CNC Milling process, RhinoCAM software automatically creates bridges; a necessary milling process outside of commands that one might use to manipulate material. We began with the idea of testing the frequency and depth of 2-axis bridging path movement presets to … Read more

Material Ecologies: From Nature to Façade

Vertical architectural elements play a defining role in shaping thresholds, filtering light, and guiding how we perceive both interior and exterior spaces. In this project, we explored their spatial and expressive potential through a sequence of hands-on fabrication experiments. Drawing inspiration from natural forms and behaviors, each design aimed to reinterpret organic patterns into façade … Read more

Fabricated Motion

Introduction to Digital Fabrication In contemporary architectural practice, digital fabrication has opened new possibilities for designing and producing building components with precision, efficiency, and expressive complexity. Among the most widely used methods—laser cutting, CNC milling, 3D printing, and robotic fabrication, each offers unique material, geometric, and performative potentials. For this assignment, we explore these techniques … Read more

The Digital Fabrication Collection

The Digital Fabrication Collection showcases four prototypes developed through distinct making techniques. Each project explores how form, material, and geometry respond to CNC milling, laser cutting, 3D printing, and robotic fabrication, highlighting the diverse possibilities of digitally driven design. Light Lattice The Light Lattice project explores how laser cutting can translate digital geometry into tangible … Read more

FACADE PROTOTYPING

Vertical elements shape how we experience architecture-defining boundaries, filtering light, and giving character to both interiors and facades. In this exercise, we explored their potential through hands-on digital fabrication, rotating between 3D printing, laser cutting, CNC milling, and robotic manufacturing. Working within a fixed wooden framework, each technique challenged us to rethink material behavior, structural … Read more

TriAxial Dynamics

3D Printing | Kinetic Facade | CONCEPT | The project draws its primary inspiration from the dynamic, sun-responsive mashrabiya system of the Al Bahr Towers in Abu Dhabi. What captivated me was the sharp visual contrast between conventional, static façade geometries often rectilinear or triangulated and the refined kinetic intelligence embedded in these triangular adaptive … Read more

Ambient Public Mood Beacons-MRAC01

‘Urban Sensing Begins: The City Meets Its Beacons’ PLACEMENT — The Sensing GroundThe first beacons are placed along the park’s circulation spine silent observers that begin listening to the city’s rhythm. Sound, motion, and presence data start forming an invisible map of human interaction.At this stage, the system is not reactive, it’s learning.It introduces itself … Read more

Nidra chair – MRAC & MAEB Workshop 1.1

Nidra chair

The Nidra Chair was developed within the framework of Workshop 1.1, where we explored robotic milling using the KUKA robotic arm. The design process was guided by a set of conceptual ideas—texture, nest, wings, and storage—which shaped the formal and tactile language of the piece. Inspired by notions of protection, warmth, and well-being, Nidra seeks … Read more