Crate

Crate | CNC Plywood Construction

Material: Plywood

Studio: first year interior architecture studio instructed by James Rose

Year: Spring 2022

Design Team: Serena Risin, Acacia Uechi, and Alyssa Woods

Tools: Rhino 3D, Illustrator, CNC

Challenged to design a chair out of a 4x8' sheet of plywood with no metal fasteners, Crate utilizes interlocking panels intentionally carved out to fit the shape of the human body. This piece took only five minutes to assemble. This design was developed and assembled in collaboration with Serena Risin and Alyssa Woods.

Carving

Starting out with a cube made from a 6x6 grid of intersecting planes, the chair was carved out by 3 main mass removals:

Carving out “egg” from intersecting planes grid
Refining the form to an ergonomic shape
Reducing material usage for a lightweight form

Nesting

As part of the project brief, all pieces were modified and arranged to be cut out of a 4' x 8' sheet of plywood. This step was where the design underwent the most amount of revisions.

The nesting file as seen on the left was then sent to the CNC to be cut and ready for assembly.

Assembly

Designed for easy assembly, the joinery was designed for users to simply slide the panels into one another. No screws or bolt needed! The seat is upheld by the external frame and the precision of the slots allows for a tight fit creating stability.

Watch the live assembly of this chair, taking a mere five minutes in real time to come together. The only tool needed was a mallot for some of the more tight-fitting pieces to be gently knocked into place.

Iterative Design Process

FURNITURE ➙

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