A Plywood Cabin

Background

The Instant Cabin is a structure fabricated of one material (plywood) assembled with muscle and a rubber mallet. Nails, screws or glue are not needed for assemble and support. The assembly of studs and sheathing are sustained by friction alone. The project is an exploration of CAD technology with computer numerically controlled machinery (CNC) to build a complete house from computer models and raw plywood sheets with no drawings or paper documents. The computer is used to convert a starting shape into an assortment of specially shaped components complete with a number. The designer builds a computer model in 3D, subdivides the object into components then flattens the objects to a horizontal position in CAD before sending each component to a computer controlled router. Joinery between components is so precise that all parts stay together by friction alone.

The Cabin House answers the problem of construction waste, time consuming design and confusing construction methods. Today construction sites are littered with machinery and skilled laborers who use many expensive handheld tools to fabricate and assemble building components. Expensive drills, screw guns, power saws and now computers have complicated the process of needed to construct a simple home building. Today the design and construction process is outside the boundaries of the average person. In particular this method of working is outside of the boundaries of unskilled village laborers in need of housing, a major problem for developing countries.