Smart Lounger integrated the material intelligence with parametric tools and techniques to create a seamless amalgamation of form, structure and material. The design is not form oriented by rather process oriented.

With contemporary techniques there is a lot of focus on complex manufacturing processes. These are quite energy burdened and result in wastage of material. We wanted to use this technique of kerfing, study and develop it using modern tools.

Sustainability is at the epicentre of the product. The design intent was to investigate kerfing as a technique for creating curved forms with minimal wastage. This was achieved through coding and iterative loops by stress analysis and generating the kerfing pattern accordingly. There is no wastage of material in the product to create a contemporary shape and the technique allows enough strength in the wood that is can take the load of a person sitting on it.

Since the process is driven by material intelligence, intense prototyping was done and the results were recomputed to get the iterative patterns. This loop resulted in developing the kerfing technique beyond just a visual craft and to an integration of formal and structural system.

For us natural materials have a distinct characteristic. The development of this product is an understanding of wood itself. The inherent grains that run on the wood and how the cutting patterns modify this structure of wood.

Material, form, structure and pattern are all integrated in this one piece. It shows that if we study the essence of a material a lot can be done by using the intelligence of the materials itself.