Wall Relief

Digital Fabrication

Final Project

This was my final project for my Digital Fabrication class. I knew that I needed to cover the annoyingly large blank white space on the wall in my living room, the last remaining spot with no decoration.

I set off on creating a wall relief.

Initially, I was planning on this piece being similar to a set of Legos; pre-built and able to be reconfigured in any number of ways. However, this concept was abandoned by the end in favor of a configuration I grew to like more than any others.

The Process

Some early shots of the 3D printer parts inspired by Legos.

I landed on two shapes that would be the foundation of the project. These simple geometric patterns can be seen below in the bottom left photo. I intended to mass-produce them and find new layout designs.

Eventually, I began to cut and trim these two simple shapes to create a wider variety. This is where the project really diverged from my initial plan.

The image on the right is the final design used.

The construction process was very intricate and took about three times longer than expected due to mechanical issues with an aging last cutter. This step in the process included some trouble shooting such as switching materials, changing laser cutting settings, and finding alternative construction methods.

Here, the initial Lego concept comes back into the process. I 3D printed custom parts that slotted into the wood to hold the various segments together. They didn't work as well as I wanted so I added wood braces underneath the plastic parts to provide additional support.

Because this was the final project of my DigiFab class, I felt compelled to bring in a greater variety of fabricated parts, like the 3D printed connectors. I plan to make another version of this at some point in the future and will most likely skip the 3D printed parts. Using wood, wood glue, and, depending on thickness, brad nails will work much better.