Researcher, Parametric Designer, Industrial Designer, Manufacturing Engineer
COLLABORATORS
MJ Mayo, Ian Backstrom, Greg Reeseman
CONTEXT
This furniture collection explores the untapped potential of large-format additive manufacturing (LFAM) in creating functional, durable, and sustainable furnishings.
Key Insights
Household items, especially furniture, were once treated as artifacts—items of immeasurable value passed down for generations.
Furnishings are meant to provide conveniences, but the modern interpretation of convenient is synonymous with cheap and disposable. In the United States, 80% of furniture ends up in landfills. Demand is fluid, yet product cycles remain rigid.This project reimagines furniture as enduring, circular products.
This project reimagines furniture as enduring, circular products.
application
I developed parametric algorithms to balance aesthetics and manufacturing efficiency. These algorithms enabled precise control over form while ensuring compatibility with robotic simulation software and the material constraints of thermoplastic LFAM.
This approach produces timeless designs that are scalable, adaptable, and optimized for production.
These lamp forms take inspiration from arid foliage of the high desert, featuring surface textures designed to evoke an incendiary emission of light.
Impact
Each pattern is generated as a continuous toolpath with parametric constraints and modifiers.The results are seamless, manufacturable designs that embrace circularity.
learnings
The availability of recycled material for LFAM in the US is inconsistent—this is largely due to low demand across the domestic industry. The recycling industry is nascent compared to the overseas market, where the majority of manufacturers have access to affordable material stocks.
The availability of recycled material for LFAM in the US is inconsistent—this is largely due to low demand across the domestic industry. The recycling industry is nascent compared to the overseas market, where the majority of manufacturers have access to affordable material stocks.