STEM 45° Technology

‘Learning as it grows’  The STEM 45° bio inspired 3D autonomous design methodology for large scale robotic manufacturing.

The STEM 45° technology research focus was on understanding and replicating digitally the internal 3D geometrical growth of bamboo. We have developed a 3D software that grows structures in 45 degrees, to avoid additive manufacturing support, save material, energy and enhance production speeds. 

Specifically, we have investigated the very fast growing ‘phyllostachys’ breed of bamboo that, depending on a variety of parameters, senses its environment to correct and reinforce itself while growing. The STEM 45° Chair was produced thanks to the development of an algorithm that digitally mimics the growing pattern of the phyllostachys breed of bamboo.

In collaboration with macromolecular and bio-material scientists at KIT- Kyoto institute of technology D-Lab in Japan, we have translated the microscopic bamboo’s internal structure into producible 3D structures. Scaled-up by 3000% we can now study the natural geometrical growth patterns of the bamboo, both in terms of its natural structural porosity and its geometrical growth intelligence.

Bellow, you can see a variety of process images, renderings and animations from the microscopic bamboo landscapes and fascinating architecture. Taking the original geometry into our studio 3D design workflows, we can now manipulate the original data and study its natural growth patterns, adding continuity and controlled porosity. We can turn this virtual material into an industrial clever line of processes that can be repeated and re-used within industrial design and architecture.

The bamboo is ‘learning as it is growing’. This means that its structural internal 3D morphology is constantly changing and adapting to new environmental conditions, growing differently from section to section based upon a kind of inherited intelligence and sensory systems.

The new ‘STEM’ objects collection were designed using the actual bamboo 3D micro-structure geometry together with Assa Ashuach’s personal aesthetics impressions and a line of 3D automated scripts.

It is opening the discussion around future industrial design and architecture processes at both large and small scales, where automated processes will be fed by a combination of human and biological intelligence, designing a new type of tool-path for the robots to follow.

With many thanks to KIT and Kyoto D-Lab, Japan 2017
For the bio material, macromolecular science and project development in collaboration with KIT professors Julia Cassim, Dr Yoko Okahisa; Bamboo microstructure bio material science, Dr Yukihiro Nishikawa; microscopic scanning & macromolecular science, Dr Kazunari Masutani; PLA bio material science and Tomohiro Inoue – AM & 3D printing