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Joinery: The Latest Architecture and News

How to Optimize Small Spaces: 9 Folding and Sliding Beds

As the number of smaller and more compact apartments grows, architects and interior designers are challenged to create multifunctional solutions and systems capable of optimizing spaces, in a way that every inch seems to make a difference. As a result, it is increasingly common for professionals to focus on designing creative furniture solutions that allow the space to transform completely in a few seconds.

ArchDaily has already published numerous articles on how to design for compact spaces, from closets and shelves to plan solutions for small apartments. We have now put together a collection of interesting projects in which the beds seem to camouflage themselves among the furniture and architectural elements, thanks to smart systems which, by using hinges and sliding tracks, allow them to be concealed in a matter of seconds, saving space and allowing versatility.

Breathtaking Italian Views Framed in Wood

With the common goal across their portfolio of enhancing the landscape, Camposaz has designed a tourist information pavilion in Roccamonfina, Italy. The wood pavilion is sited just off of a pedestrian path, overlooking the adjacent public park with stunning views of the nearby mountains, a driver in the design.

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This Satisfying Algorithm Combines Japanese-Inspired Joints to Generate Any Form

Complex wood joineries have long been staples of Japanese architecture and construction, demonstrating an impressive and even artistic craft passed down through generations of Japanese carpenters and woodworkers. In recent times, with increasingly available resources and technology, these techniques have been further explored and made publicly accessible, be it through demonstrative gifs or downloadable fabricated joints.

In relation to these resources, Aryan Shahabian, a researcher at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna has developed an algorithm that generates over a billion distinct combinations of interlocking 3D objects, inspired by Japanese joineries. Both single joints and free forms are smoothly handled by the software, combined with endless resultant forms.

These Mesmerizing GIFs Illustrate the Art of Traditional Japanese Wood Joinery

For centuries before the invention of screws and fasteners, Japanese craftsmen used complex, interlocking joints to connect pieces of wood for structures and beams, helping to create a uniquely Japanese wood aesthetic that can still be seen in the works of modern masters like Shigeru Ban.

Up until recent times, however, these techniques were often the carefully guarded secrets of family carpentry guilds and unavailable for public knowledge. Even as the joints began to be documented in books and magazines, their 2-dimensional depictions remained difficult to visualize and not found in any one comprehensive source.

That is, until a few years ago, when a young Japanese man working in automobile marketing began compiling all the wood joinery books he could get his hands on and using them to creating his own 3-dimensional, animated illustrations of their contents.