Innovative surfaces with digital technology

Wood-Skin is an innovative Italian startup of architects, engineers and designers, founded in 2013 to address the need to create complex shapes for the built environment and design in a simple and cheap way.

Today, Wood-Skin is a company with an international patent that ships worldwide. It is a brand that offers innovative systems for architecture using digital production technologies through the use of digital material which is a synthesis of two wooden layers and a textile central layer. The software engraves the three-dimensional surfaces creating the desired geometries which are then joined to fabric hinges to recreate the same configuration as the digital drawing without using heavy and expensive structures.

The result is masterpieces of creativity and dynamism. Flat and rigid wooden plates can be moved and bent into three-dimensional shapes according to the predefined design. Rigid surfaces are made flexible and flat surfaces three-dimensional so they acquire volume e dynamism and even the most characteristic and inventive ideas can come true at a low price. One of the main values at Wood-Skin is the ability to evolve, change shape and take on a new life through changing configurations over time.

The Wood-Skin product was originally designed for wood (birch and okumè plywood, mdf) but today it also includes other materials such as aluminium, HPL laminates and synthetic felt. Below are the products that are currently made using the Wood-skin digital technique:

– Fold Panels are 3D panels with intriguing shapes, constructed in a rectangular or square module surrounded by a strong aluminium frame that maintains the shape and makes the installation on walls and ceilings easier. Fold panels are a new type of covering that can be installed on different surfaces such as walls, ceilings, banisters, counters etc.

– Mesh Panels offer a new way of designing curved, wavy and free-shape surfaces from flat sheets. Thanks to variable sizes of the pieces, the radius of curvature can get considerably narrow while maintaining its fluidity. A lot of configurations can be achieved by combining the type of texture (Basic, Classic, Decor, Digital) with the type and size of the facetings. This technology allows the construction of elegant membranes with the same look, impression and functional properties as light and flexible materials such as paper and fabric.

– Tailor Made Surfaces are ‘sandwich’ sheets with variable material on the two outer sides and a textile core with high resistance. These surfaces are tailor-made to create unique products for specific projects.

In addition to innovation, Wood-Skin strongly believes in the value of sustainability and its goals include supporting local production and manufacturing, using local resources, avoiding long-distance shipments and reducing CO2 emissions.