Bending Wood

About

This workshop focuses on the traditional technique of steam-bending wood. In addition to an indepth craft course, we will spend a day in Grunewald forest visiting a forester, who will tell us about the ecological reforestation efforts in her district.

In this workshop we learn about the traditional technique of steam-bending wood. We will combine and contrast this with a day in Grunewald forest, where we will meet a forester in her district. After a wildfire some years ago, she is taking an innovative ecological approach to reforestation, in which the forest can mostly decide for itself how it wants to regrow. Through different formats of play and input we will look at the changing relationship between Berliners and Grunewald.

After learning about local forestry and the context from which our working material is sourced, we will continue in the wood workshop. Here we will focus on bending wood, an old technique, that is still used today. It occupies a unique position between traditional craft and modernist design, where it plays an important role, for example in the furniture designs by Alvar Aalto or Thonet.

First we will conduct some test runs with a prepared setup, to understand the basic principles of steam-bending. Then, each participant decides on a shape they want to create, inspired by the time in the forest and the interplay of artificial and naturally occurring lines and curves there. While working on individual pieces, you have the opportunity to familiarize yourself with many essential tools and machines in the workshop. Wood bending is an explorative work, and rather than working toward a fixed goal, we will experiment with what we have. It’s a constant negotiation between our ideas and the possibilities offered by the material. This workshop will give you an indepth understanding of the steam-bending process, while also teaching you general skills required in an everyday workshop practice

Course leader

Esra Nagel

Fee info