Carter Nelson: Assignment 04

Candace and I CNC-milled two models of our project 1b furniture solution. The first is a prototype of the joint, sliding system, and the second is a scale model that represents the aesthetic and functional attributes of the full model. We created a bunk that offers privacy, storage, and a control over interaction and that interacts with the user.

Carter Nelson: Looking Out Week 16

This engaging interior installation at a restaurant in Boston, MA by NADAAA flaunts an interactive and engaging design made out of a CNC-milled and three-dimensionally realized plywood sheet system that creates a space changing canopy over the dining area. It also acts as a screen to hide the mechanical, acoustic, drainage, sprinkler, lighting, and structural systems.









See more HERE.

Carter Nelson: Looking Out Week 15

This fabricated wood seating arrangement created by graduate students from Columbia is an interactive system inspired by Slinkies and reverberating see-saws. The final product dubbed Polymorphic uses CNC-cut plywood and a pivot and bolt system to accomplish its functional and aesthetic goals.

See more HERE.

Carter Nelson: Looking Out Week 14

I remember referencing this project last year for the desk organizer project where we were asked to combine aluminum and wood in interesting ways. This sort of process was not available nor would it fit the program but the contrast and honesty of the material use in this project and the interesting methods used to create these pieces of furniture culminate in a beautiful artistic piece. Inside a mold is poured molten aluminum and then wooden trunks are pressed into the molten iron to form the top of the table. The outcome is a sharp juxtaposition or material separated by a charred wood layer that shows of the methods used in creating these pieces of furniture.









See more HERE.

Carter Nelson: Looking Out Week 13

This chair designed by Hermann August Weizeneggeris made out of 900 sheets of paper that a combined to create a fluid shape. He used fabrication equipment to create this smooth modular shape that is both aesthetically pleasing and functional. A laser cutter formed these pieces which were then placed upon a structure to form the exterior of the chair. Once again, the feature that makes this chair successful is the honesty of the process and the end result that is beautiful because it shows off the process from which it was made.




















































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Carter Nelson: Looking Out Week 12

The Riggio-Lynch Chapel in Clinton, Tenn. by Maya Lin flaunts a simple, yet unique design that is both sleek and modern as well as salutes the vernacular architectural forms associated with a boat or basin. The elegance of this project as well as its nautical form fit the program perfectly and represent the function of the space while still being a significant modern form. The pattern of using wood in a chapel setting may be attributed to the vernacular and primitive architecture that chapels began to be realized in but also provides a sense of warmth, connection to nature, and material honesty that is pleasing to experience.







Images found HERE.

Carter Nelson: Looking Out Week 11

This wood wrapped work space in Chelsea by Synthesis Design + Architecture is created out of CNC milled bitch wood panels that are spaced evenly. The undulating wall combines both form and function to create an engaging project that displays a sculptural representation of a world map. The reason I found this project particularly interesting is because it is an installation that, while not structural, changes the spatial qualities of the space and provides a unique solution to the needs of the client.





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Carter Nelson: Looking Out Week 10

The Final Wooden House by Sou Fujimoto Architects by Kumamoto, Japan is a creation constructed by interlocking lumber measured by a cube unit that extends. It demonstrates versatility of spaces and a unique process that was conceived out of an idea of constructing a cube out of smaller units. The spaces it creates have a flexible function that allows for standing spaces, sitting spaces and spaces to recline.









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Carter Nelson: Looking Out Week 09

Architecture is not only for the elite, but can be used to better underprivileged people and people in need after disaster relief. These temporary dormitories are constructed out of locally sourced and reconstituted/re-purposed materials using traditional building methods and a vernacular aesthetic. They can be quickly erected and last for up to two years. Despite its humble material pallet and function, its creates an aesthetically intriguing project that honestly presents its materiality and has unique moments while helping an important cause.





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Carter Nelson: Looking Out Week 08

This incredible tree house (Yellow Treehouse Restaurant) by Pacific Environments Architects Ltd. showcases wood as a sort of nest placed forty feet high on a redwood tree. The project is aesthetically intriguing and its articulation and utility of natural light and how that is filtered throughout the project I find to be particularly successful in this project.





See more HERE.

Carter Nelson: Looking Out Week 07

This project is another of Peter Zumpthor's works and is the Swiss Pavilion at the 2000 Hanover Expo in Hanover, Germany and is formed out of stacked, processed lumber. It is called the Swiss Sound Box and was created to be a sort of maze in which visitors to the Expo could rest and relax while experiencing music and food from Switzerland. The simplicity of Zumpthor's works are arguably one of the main aspects that makes his architecture so great and the simple stacking and articulation of processed lumber as walls and a grid accomplish many of the problems he sought to solve.







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Carter Nelson: Looking Out Week 06

This may not necessarily meet the criteria, but Peter Zumpthor's Brother Klaus Field Chapel is relevant to the discussion of wood in architecture because it was used in the method of construction and is imprinted in the concrete that forms this chapel. First, a wooden tent was formed by trunks of tree, concrete was poured around it, and then the logs were burned to create the chapel you see below.







See more HERE.

Carter Nelson: Looking Out Week 05

The Lantern pavilion in Norway by Atelier Oslo in Langgata, Sandnes, Norway showcases some of the incredible structural and aesthetic qualities wood construction can inspire. This project exists as a canopy over a multipurpose space that engages the viewer through its form and the diffusion of light that it creates. It salutes vernacular Norwegian architecture while creating some modern structural forms as well as unique connection details.





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Carter Nelson: Looking Out Week 04

This next project highlights materiality as well as fabrication processes. The Reindeer Pavilion in Norway provides a unique example of milling used to create a dynamic interior space. One of the most striking features of this project as well as one of the things that I believe makes this project particularly successful is the fact that you can see the individual pieces of wood as well as the mill marks that have not been sanded off. I feel that the honesty of material and production process really supports both the projects and somethings that I believe architecture should showcase.









See more HERE.

Carter Nelson: Assignment 03

Woodwork evokes a feeling of warmth, connection to nature, luxury, tradition, and strength that no other material brings to the table. The tradition of woodworking has evolved as technology has evolved.

It began by using methods of stacking whole logs. This use came out of a degree of simplicity. See the stavkirke church below what uses wooden staves as its basis for construction. These were erected as early as the twelfth century in Norway and are feats of architecture due to their simple use of material, structural properties, durability, and by virtue of how quickly and easily they can be erected.





Following this use of wood came the idea of using a unit or sets of units for framing construction and joinery techniques. Wood framing systems came out of this sort of use for wood.



More recently we are looking at new ways of using wood through fabrication to imply different aesthetic and structural systems.



This is an extremely simple evolution of the use of wood in construction. from whole logs, to units, to hardly recognizable materials, wood has provided a unique and always relevant material palate to architecture across the world.