Development of Self-Forming Curved Wood Furniture

MATERIAL DRIVEN COMPUTATIONAL DESIGN AND MANUFACTURING FOR SELF-FORMING CURVED WOOD FURNITURE

This research investigates the design and fabrication space for self-forming curved wooden furniture through an interdisciplinary collaboration between architects, engineers, material scientists and forest scientists. The current manufacturing processes for seating furniture often involve curved elements that rely on large pressing tools and shaped moulds, which limit customisation and cost-effectiveness, especially for small production runs. Additionally, there are logistical challenges due to space requirements.

By exploiting the anisotropic structure of wood and its differential swelling and shrinking properties, as in the HygroShape project, furniture pieces can be designed in flatpack configurations that take shape autonomously when unpacked. Adhesively bonded layers of hardwood induce the desired shape when dried on-site. An alternative approach is to fabricate and lock curved wood components, eliminating the need for pressing tools and moulds.

This long-term project encompasses material characterisation, comprehensive testing, analysis, design exploration and manufacturing. The computational design methods facilitate shape estimation, performance simulation, design space exploration and material-driven reverse design. In addition, the research proposes and tests locking mechanisms to address anatomical variability of wood. The ultimate goal of this collaboration is to introduce an economically viable, customer-oriented and material-focused process for self-forming wood furniture that exploits the natural hygroscopic behaviour of the material in both computational and physical design.

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Prof. Achim Menges
Institute for Computational Design and Construction (ICD), University of Stuttgart

RESEARCHERS

Dr.-Ing. Tiffany Cheng (ICD)
Ekin Sila Sahin (ICD)
Laura Kiesewetter (ICD)

PARTNERS

Prof. Dr. Markus Rüggeberg, Institute for Forest Utilization and Forest Technology (FNFT), Technical University of Dresden
Prof. Steffen Tobisch and Prof. Detlef Krug, Institute for Wood Technology Dresden, non-profit GmbH (IHD)
Asst. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dylan Wood

INDUSTRY PARTNERS
Danzer Deutschland GmbH
Thonet GmbH
Henkel & Cie. AG
Blumer-Lehmann AG

FUNDING

Bundesministerium für Ernährung und Landwirtschaft (BMEL), FNR-Förderprogramm Nachwachsende Rohstoffe des BMEL (2221HV096C)