London Design Festival 09: London designer Nina Tolstrup of Studiomama presented a collection of furniture made from digitally-altered branches with TEN XYZ at 100% Design in London last month.

Called Branch Out, the project involved scanning the branches with a 3D scanner before maniuplating them with software and rapid-prototyping the resulting forms.

Tolstrup then cast these and used them as connecting elements to transform the original branches into trestles for tables.

Led by Chris Jackson, TEN is a group of designers who collaborate each year to present sustainable projects at 100% Design. See our story about last year's project here.

Here's some more information from Tolstrup:

--

Nina Tolstrup - Studiomama for TEN at 100% design

Branch Out

The challenge for the TEN collective this year was to create a project using digital technologies. My aim was to make a small intervention using a natural form found in nature, whilst utilizing the 3D scanner, 3D software and stereo lithography technologies. There is a beauty in the cycle’s of nature and that natures systems know no waste. An example of this which inspired me was seeing the potential of fallen branches whilst walking in the forest. These branches would otherwise eventually biodegrade into the earth.

The digital technologies offered by Metropolitan Works gave me the opportunity to explore these beautiful pieces of nature. I had the idea to find some sections of branch that I could scan in 3D and then subtly manipulate in a 3D program. The manipulated branches were then rapid prototyped and cast. I worked out that I could then use the cast branches as connectors in conjunction with my collected fallen branches.

These connected pieces formed simple skeletal structures that could be used to make basic items of furniture such as trestle, table frame, stools or a coat stand.