May 16, 2016 3:04 PM

Gallery: This Trippy Looking Building Is Modeled After a Sand Dollar

ICD/ITKE University Stuttgart
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The University of Stuttgart’s Institute of Computational Design just revealed its new research pavilion.
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This year's is modeled after a sand dollar.

ICD/ITKE University Stuttgart
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The structure is made from 151 plywood components that are stitched together.
ICD/ITKE University Stuttgart
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Instead of a mold, a robot stitches the wood together to retain its shape.

ICD/ITKE University Stuttgart
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The stitches.
ICD/ITKE University Stuttgart
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Those individual components were then stitched together by humans.

ICD/ITKE University Stuttgart
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The wooden pieces are thin, 3-5 millimeters, but like a sand dollar they have a double layer.
ICD/ITKE University Stuttgart
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This gives the pavilion strength without using much material.

ICD/ITKE University Stuttgart
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The pavilion at night.

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