Logo for inwardout studio in thin, rounded lowercase letters. The dots over the i and at the end of studio are green. The background is light grey.

Birth of a cube

Written by

Ludovic Vilbert

in

,

Hi all, we are almost here and the cube we have designed for Blooming Tasmania’s Flower and Garden Festival is ready. It just needs a bit of love and then it is done.

Before the result, I want to show you the start of this idea. First the concept, the cube, our logo. Yes I am an architect and I love cubes of course. How can you work with this shape? This is probably the first exercise in any school of architecture. So this is our starting point: the cube as an infinite shape, the base of a lot of fractal geometry, the cube in the cube and so on. Our cube concept is based on the Menger sponge.

Five cubic structures are shown in a row, each progressively more complex, with increasingly intricate square holes carved through them, illustrating the stages of a fractal called the Menger Sponge.

The Menger sponge (Image: WIkipedia)

Secondly, how to go in and out of the cube, how to unfold it? That is when the second concept of a geometric ribbon comes into play.

A 3D-printed geometric structure with intersecting rectangular beams and square openings, placed on a wooden surface. The structure has a central hollow cube with extended horizontal pieces on each side.
A black, zigzag-shaped object stands upright on a brown surface, with cardboard pieces and a patterned rug visible in the background.
A cardboard sculpture is arranged on a textured surface to create the optical illusion of an impossible geometric shape, resembling a Penrose triangle. The sculpture casts a shadow that enhances the illusion.

For making this cube come to life, we decided to use plywood. This is a very versatile material. It is inexpensive, easy to cut and being flat, so easy to transport.

Several wooden pieces are laid out on the ground in front of a garage, along with two assembled wooden stools. There are plants and a hanging green dress in the background.
A wooden, L-shaped studio desk with built-in shelves and the words Anwandter Studio carved on the front, stands in a cosy, eclectic room with various art supplies and furniture in the background.
Several interlocking plywood pieces are assembled into an abstract, geometric structure on a cracked concrete surface, with more wooden pieces and tools visible in the background.

To make the components of the cube, all the design was generated in CAD and then cut via a CNC router.

Three rectangular sheets of wood with laser-cut shapes and pieces arranged to maximise material use. Each sheet has a yellow circular label with black markings in the upper half of the panel.
An exploded view of a wooden puzzle box with several flat, interlocking pieces spread out, revealing how they fit together. One piece is labelled Innovation Studio.

And the plants! The cube is a kind of a big pot for plants, inside the cube (900 x 900 x 900mm) there are 27 smaller cubes (each 300 x 300 x 300mm). And all of this will be filled (with love).

A modern plant display with wooden stools, potted plants on stands, a wooden counter labelled In n out Studio, and a vertical planter on a grey and black background. A bright red pot sits in front.

We had some space left in the sheets of plywood, so we also designed stools and standing planters. This is another story. I will tell it to you the next time. And you will also hear more from Gabrielle about plant selection soon.

A bientôt,

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