A Minimal Making Grammar for 3-D Structures

The design of systems of interlocking, digitally-fabricated parts has been a subject of interest for computational design researchers for some time. A discrete language of elements and a set of rules for their assembly, some of these efforts have shown, can circumscribe an open-ended space for design and material exploration. Taking cues from Shape Grammars, a foundational theory and praxis of generative design, and Making Grammars, this paper contributes to these efforts by introducing a minimal making grammar which innovatively comprises a single, easy to manufacture element. Adapting traditional mortise-and-tenon joinery techniques to contemporary digital manufacturing methods, this minimal making grammar allows for the design and construction of light, three-dimensional structures without the need for nails, fasteners, or adhesives. Describing the grammar through procedural descriptions, material studies, structural analyses, and the evaluation of four objects derived from it, the paper characterizes this grammar, its design space and structural behaviour highlighting how, despite its specificational simplicity, it allows for a great deal of spatial and visual complexity.