"The real problem is not to adapt machine production to the aesthetics of handcraft, but to think out new aesthetic standards for the new methods of production." Herbert Read, 1936

The point of departure was being able to understand and foster a relationship between materiality and digital fabrication techniques while exploring the possibilities of articulating a haptic environment. A basic understanding of the material would not suffice in the scope of this investigation. The study requires an intimate understanding of wood and the associated digital fabrication techniques. Plywood is a material whose many uses can be taken for granted but also has historically been deeply explored. From the plywood furniture of Charles and Rea Eames to the flooring most likely under our feet, this material has played a mundane role in our daily lives and became an artifact of high design. The material of choise in this investigation is 1/8" Baltic Birch Plywood which consists of three alternating ply's. The imported material is solid, this differs from much of the material manufactured in the US because it has a particle board core which makes this material very stable but destroys the honest behaviour of wood, which is very important for the purpose of this study. 

The digital fabrication portion of this investigation revolves around having knowledge of the techniques that can be utilized and are available at the COA. These techniques are primarily concentrated around a three-axis numberically controlled router and a two dimensional laser cutter. These technologies were chosen as they are both readily able to work with the selected plywood and can perform complex operations with a high amount of speed and efficiency in ways that are neither possible nor feasible through traditional handcraft techniques. 

The relationship between the material study and the digital fabrication techniques employed in this investigation have become the main area of study and interest. This relationship is one of interdependence, with each being equally dependant on the other. This has lead towards a study of the phenomenological impact that architecture of this type can have on space. This idea of discovering a newly articulated way of incorporating the senses into the perception of space has been explored at the scale of a hand held object.

Although the latest fabrication portion of this investigatin yielded physical element that is not necessarily beautiful, in the traditional sense, but the process has become beautiful. It has brought about very fundamental questions such as: what is a plane, how strong can corners be, how much can I bend this or that, how can light and shadow inform and articulate geometry, and it has brought these questions to rather sophisticated digital fabricaion equipment.