SEAT: A Surface Active Form, Instructor: Negar Kalantar, Forming Plywood:3D Forms out of 2D Surfaces

This project focuses on thinking critically about structural form-finding as a creative element of the architectural design process. By translating structural behavior into material form, this project further students' interest and expertise in the novel structuring of furniture. By embedding the material performance of plywood into a self-supporting structure, this project serves as a vehicle for exploring the active use of form. The final SEAT prototypes were developed iteratively, from small study models to a final prototype. The project expressed the bending capacity and joinery possibilities that thin plywood provides by integrating structural performance into an elegant structure. The SEAT design must hold student's weight. In this project, students used three strategies to design and construct the surfaces’ active form: (1) folding, (2) bending and weaving, and (3) nipping. Unlike paper, plywood is not easy to bend or fold; therefore, to bend the plywood we use three methods: (1) making relief cuts, (2) cutting a series of kerfs, and (3) soaking the plywood and reforming it. With all of these techniques, volume will be created and located somewhere between the parts.