FABRICATION TECHNIQUES : THE NIGHTSTAND
The seminar was an introduction to the tools and techniques essential in construction to help students realize the scope and limitations of a project with the technology available. Through the course students were also introduced to the Valldaura wood and the various aspects and considerations of working with wood, especially pine and oak.
The idea was to divide into groups of 2-3 to develop a piece of furniture that could be used by the residents of Valldaura from the wood leftover from the construction of the Niu Haus.
For our project we chose to make a nightstand and selected three key pieces of wood.
A flat cut off from the trunk with bark attached to the edges were chosen for the top of the nightstand while two long cut off pieces were selected to form the legs. The key to the selection was the optimal use of materials to minimize wastage.
The natural texture and deformities of the wood as well as the leftover bark provided for a vibrant texture and a beautiful rustic aesthetic which mitigated the need for any finishing layers thereby minimizing material usage.
The next step was to measure all the parts accurately to finalize the lengths for the legs of the nightstand.
After taking the measurements we proceeded to digitally design the different part for the joinery system to ensure that minimum number of cuts were required.
From the digital drawings the parts were cut using power tools. The design enabled us to use the top of the nightstand without any alteration from the original state it was found in while the pieces for the legs required a single cut each to form the legs of the nightstand. The legs were then joined together using wooden dowels and were attached to the table top with a tenon and mortise joint.
Fabrication Techniques: The Nightstand is a project of IaaC, Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia developed at Masters in Advanced Ecological Buildings in 2019/2020 by
Students: Anfisa Mishchenko and Shreya Sharma
Faculty: Marziah Zad, Michael Salka, & Jonathan Minchin