digital fabrication

organic benches

type: digital fabrication
role: computational designer
collaboration: SUBdV Architecture
location: Sao Paulo, Brazil
year: 2022

The organic benches were developed at SUBdV Architecture for an event in Sao Paulo. The event layout was designed by the architect Nathalie Bacellar, who left an area of ​​60 square meters for the benches. The pieces were developed in Grasshopper, from conception to execution. The advantage of doing the project using a parametric workflow was that the architect could choose the shape of the benches in real time by adjusting the initial curve in Rhino. The entire system is updated automatically, including the nesting.

The benches are 8.6 x 3.7m and 5.5 x 4.5m. Both are made of 15mm MDF, and the closure comprises 3mm flexible plywood. They were divided into modules respecting the 2750mm x 1850mm MDF sheets. The waffle structure was made with wood scraps from previous cutting plans to reduce material waste. The details, such as the thickness and size of the inserts, were manually adjusted in Rhino.

design process

Structural waffle and support rings (MDF)
Closing to hide the structural waffle (flexible plywood)
Seat (MDF) – cutting with a CNC machine
Design process in Grasshopper
Design process in Grasshopper
The client made the layout, and the grey area was designated for the benches

nesting

Nesting made in Openest. Divide the top of the bench to fit in an MDF sheet and create modules.

3d model

fabrication process

CNC cutting
fitting and guiding
assembly
primer
ink
final

final result

Image from Nathalie Bacellar’s website (reuse of the benches in another event)
Image from Nathalie Bacellar’s website (reuse of the benches in another event)

team

Parametric Modelling and Nesting: Camila Calegari Marques (SUBdV Architecture)
Coordinators: Anne Save de Beaurecueil and Franklin Lee (SUBdV Architecture)
Constructors: Linha Bloom team
Architecture: Nathalie Bacellar
Photos: Nathalie Bacellar’s website

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