A one week design program focusing on an exploration with wood design materials and methods. The proposed challenge was to utilize a small unitized natural wood material in repetition to construct an elevated pod or tree house like structure. One hundred units minimum were required to be connected, weaved, interlocked, or otherwise manipulated into a “skin” or “skeletal” like structure design. A single additional wooden dowel, outside of the single unit context, was allowed to be utilized as additional structural support. Popsicle sticks were selected as the wooden material unit. Inspiration for this project was drawn from a Dartmoor Student Team responsible for implementing a Jerry Tate Architects design for the 2015 Dartmoor Arts Project.

material exploration

The design process was initiated through an exploration in material connection techniques. Study one was comprised of a polar array of units around a central datum in the efforts of creating a canopy. This canopy study resulted in a spiral staircase as the end product. Study two explored a repetitious grid like structure utilizing only forty-five degree angles of connection. The diagonal grid system was meant to study implied spaces and pass through circulations. The third study was derived, as a product of the preceding two, with the concept of weaving the wooden units into an actual mesh. Popsicle sticks were soaked in hot water to maximize pliability, and then simple weaves were tested before moving into more complex systems of interaction.

Model Images

The final model was a complex composition derived from an extremely basic single wooden construction unit. By utilizing the three separate study model techniques, the Tree-Sicle took on a life of its own through an extremely organic design evolution. Much like the Dartmoor team, the final model form drew from the weave like nature of a bird’s nest. As Jerry Tate stated of their project, “Nature is a sublime designer”.