The strata of descending transparency provokes a peep inside the bamboo.

B+ STOOL

CLIENT:  "CREATE OUTSIDE THE GRID" EXHIBITION
HELD BY HONG KONG TRADE DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL (HKTDC)
COLLABORATOR: STRATASYS
STATUS: BUILT, 2015

The stool harmoniously merges salvaged bamboo and printed components

​CONCEPT 

​BAMBOO IS UBIQUITOUSLY SEEN IN SCAFFOLDING IN LOCAL CONSTRUCTION WORKS. WHILE WE ARE FAMILIAR WITH ITS SLENDER APPEARANCE, ITS INTRICATE INTERNAL STRUCTURE IS SELDOM KNOWN. A BAMBOO POLE IS MADE OF MANY HOLLOW CULMS WITH DIAPHRAGM WALLS AT THEIR INTERFACES. SUCH TUBULAR STRUCTURE USES MATERIAL EFFICIENTLY TO REACH TOWARDS THE SKY, SIMILAR TO THAT OF MODERN SKYSCRAPERS. ITS STEM THICKNESS GETS THINNER NEAR ITS TOP WHERE LESS STRENGTH IS REQUIRED.
 
INSPIRED BY THE INGENUITY OF NATURE, WE PROPOSE TO "GROW" THE RECLAIMED BAMBOO POLES INTO A STOOL - NEW PARTS BUDS FROM BOTH ENDS OF THE POLES, GROWING INTO VARIOUS PARTS OF A LEANING STOOL -THE SEAT, ARM REST, BACK REST AND THE LEGS. THEIR INTERNAL WALL THICKNESS RESPONSES TO THEIR FUNCTIONS, MIRRORING THAT OF NATURAL BAMBOO. MANUFACTURED BY MULTI-MATERIAL 3D PRINTING, THE MAJOR STRUCTURE IS PRINTED IN STRONG PLASTIC WHILE THE CONTACT SURFACES WITH BODY ARE MADE OF SOFT ONE TO INCREASE COMFORT. THE NEW PARTS ARE TRANSPARENT TO REVEAL THE BEAUTY OF THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE, PROVOKING A REFLECTION ON THE INTERNAL BEAUTY OF BAMBOO.
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The nodes, the strongest portions, are placed in the midspan where the greatest bending moment occurs.

Materials of 10 different transparencies are printed in one continuous piece.

Transparent legs create a floating visual effect

3D printed parts are tailored made to fit the bamboo's unique sectional profile

Pre-assembly -salvaged bamboo tubes and 3D printed parts

Marks from pervious use as scaffolding can still be seen

Study models experimenting with forms.

The process of extracting the bamboo sectional profile.