The New Prosthesis project proposes a construction method which utilizes thin wood sheets which are bent without formwork. The target issues of the project are several: First, the efficient use of material in structural members utilizing bent wood forms. Second, the elimination of wasteful form-work from the wood bending process, especially with algorithmically generated structures. Third, the reduction of weight with regard to the transport and material usage of the structure.

This methodology relies on parametric computation with Rhino plug-in Grasshopper to describe the geometry of the pieces, and on digital fabrication technologies, either laser cutting or CNC milling, to cut the pieces. The proposed method of construction would then involve material pre-cut and shipped to a construction site flat, where they are bent into shape and assembled.

This proposal uses a well known woodworking craft technique, but in a way which radically alters its received knowledge. The innovation is in the melding of digital and craft techniques, in the use of digitally controlled machines to guide a process that is eventually completed by hand. The various prototypes show that the process is transferable to different formal typologies.
Advisors: Luis Fraguada, Marta Male-Alemany
Guest Tutors: Kas Oosterhuis (Oosterhuis_Lénárd, Tu Delft-Director of Hyperbody), Theodore Spyropoulos (Minimaforms, AA Architectural Assosiation), Tomasz Jaskiewicz (Tu Delft_Researcher at Hyperbody)