For the new MIND district in Milan, the architecture and design firm Lombardini22 and WOOD-SKIN have created an ‘impossible’ architectural surface for the Village Pavillion designed by Michele De Lucchi.

Originating from a concept by Lombardini22, WOOD-SKIN accepted the challenge of realizing a heretofore implausible design with traditional techniques and materials.

Here, WOOD-SKIN is both system and tool in the complex transformation from digital file to finished product of the concept of the ‘ripple effect’, as in a drop of water whose point of impact generates energy, dynamism, and a multitude of concentric waves that propagate far beyond the size of the drop itself.

A set of unique skills, now more essential than ever in a world of design that increasingly intersects with robotic manufacturing, made it possible to move in a very short time from the study of forms by DDlab (Lombardini22's Digital Design Lab specializing in computational design) to their production using the WOOD-SKIN® digital fabrication process. The complexity of the surface does not entail, however, a heavy and intricate structure; rather, it is lightweight and accessible from both front and back, leaving the technical and engineering details clearly visible to underscore MIND's vocation as a technological and research hub, where form and function join forces to shape the future of Made-in-Italy innovation. 

The 40-sq/m surface of this unique wall is divided into segments, each different from the other, forming a large digital origami made of wood and then painted, essentially a multitude of elements breaking from the plane to become three-dimensional. Thanks to the dry assembly method, the wall can be entirely disassembled and restored to its flat state to be reused in different contexts.

The ceiling element at the entrance of the pavilion was also made with the same characteristics and intent, a soft and malleable shape to remind us that innovation = elasticity + perspective.