prototype by frank gehry

I was not ecstatic about the prospect of spending time making an object out of cardboard. As a material, it is not so nice. I began to think of what kind of object I could make that could be nice precisely because it was made out of cardboard.

The first thing that came to mind was Frank Gehry's wiggle chair created in 1972. Paired with the vinyl cutter, I could make a cardboard furniture piece that tried to hide it's cardboard-ness.

bench no. 11 by MOS

model of a community center by MOS

chair no. 12 by MOS

While I would like to replicate a version of Gehry's furniture, the added requirement of makinga parametric construction kit that can be assembled in multiple ways does not allow me to do this.Before overwhelming myself, I decided I would try to take the most simplified approach yet not the most literal - I may or may not be breaking / bending some rules here.

I took a look at some of MOS's furniture, which is pretty odd looking. Its abstract dowel construction system means chairs can be used upside down - or is that right side up? Additionally, I really like that the chairs look like they could be very easily disassembled and reassembled in a different manner. Unrelated models by MOS also have this sensibility.

I would like to then, make an object that in this manner can be reassembled in different ways.

wood pattern found online

In order to "camouflage" the cardboard, I want to vinyl cut a wood pattern to stick onto the finished object. I know this won't make the cardboard not look like cardboard, but I'm excited to see how much it transforms it.

threshold of wood pattern

line trace of (a different) wood pattern

Turning photograph into a black and white image can be done in a couple of different ways - via thresholding in Photoshop or line trace in Illustrator. Usually if you edit a photograph well enough, upping its contrast, lowering its saturation, etc, you can get a graphic image that will then translate well via threshold or line trace.

I now realize, the mod we use in order to use the vinyl cutter basically does a couple of these steps for you, but I suppose it didn't hurt to do an extra step - though it was repeated. These wood grain graphics are what I hope will mask my cardboard piece.

laser cut sheet : planes / shelves

laser cut sheet : pivot joints with vertical insert

I wanted the cardboard object to be reconfigurable - kind of designed but not totally. So I wanted to make a kind of cardboard shelf - scale on the smaller side - that could be of various lengths / heights / etc. The design would be stacked- like the Gehry furniture piece - and would have wooden dowels and some gaping holes - like the MOS examples.

grasshopper definition : random shelves

measured kerf

grasshopper definition : circle accounting for kerf

Using grasshopper, I was able to make two files - one for the shelves, which I wanted to be punctured by holes, randomly - and another for the dowels - which would be stacked on a 1" cardboard piece. I was originally hoping to use the cut out holes of the shelf to be dowels, but the fit was quite loose, so the dowels account for the kerf (.005"). It's a tight enough fit to hold the shelves, but loose enough to jiggle in and out. On a separate note, I know this is a pretty weak way to use grasshopper, but I've not used it successfully before, so I was pretty pleased and now can start to see other simple though helpful ways I could use it.

dowel joint / assembly

dowel assembly : perforated edge

dowel assembly : non-perforated edge

painted dowel

The dowels, as mentioned previously, were made by being stacked. However, having made many stacked models, I know it best to use something to align, otherwise things tend to get messy a piece of 1" cardboard hold all of the dowels together - no glue is used as the fit is tight.

I later decided to paint the dowels white to play with the white vinyl that would be applied to the cardboard. Initially, I was more pleased by the perforated edge of the cardboard, but after applying the paint to the dowels, I realized the non-perforated edge began to maybe mimick or play with the idea of wood grain that I would introduce with the vinyl.

simple vinyl

more detailed vinyl

I was interested in testing different qualities of wood grain. Some of overly complex and details and others are more simple yet still quite graphic.

peeling off vinly to apply to cardboard shelf

vinyl applied on cardboard

Peeling off the vinyl of 5 sheets of cut material took a looong time! But I was super pleased with the result. I really like the contrast of the very beautiful grain on the very dumb and circular cuts into a rectangle.

Assembly 01 :

The resulting object is not SO beautiful, but I do like this play of a material trying to mask itself. The image above was the assembly I came up with after playing with a couple of pieces. But the images below show other possible configurations due to the pivot hinge.

Assembly 02 :

Assembly 03 :

Assembly 04 :

Files :
Dropbox
Rhino
Grasshopper