OLI STEPHENS ( object . installation . system )
Habitecture . 2025
Habitecture explores how existing tree hollows might inform the fabrication of artificial habitat. Existing hollow entrances were 3D scanned, isolated and translated into digital geometry, creating forms that could be reproduced and incorporated into artificially constructed hollows.
Existing hollow entrances were captured through 3D scanning and isolated from the surrounding tree geometry. The resulting meshes preserve the irregularities of naturally formed entrances while allowing them to be examined, manipulated and reproduced digitally.
The isolated geometries were treated as digital artefacts rather than representations of trees. Their resolution, surface and irregularity become qualities that can be translated between scanning, modelling and fabrication.
The entrance geometry was translated directly into the nest box faceplate. Enlarged and flattened tree bark scans were used to develop the rest of the faceplate surface, allowing the two forms of scanned geometry to inform the fabricated component.
Physical prototypes were used to test the translation of scanned geometries into manufacturable components, allowing scale, surface, fit and the relationship between entrance and faceplate to be evaluated materially.
The intended final outcome would be 5-axis CNC machined from timber, allowing the complex scanned geometries to be reproduced while retaining their irregular surface and entrance profiles.
Habitecture considers design for human and non-human needs simultaneously.For the target species, the system must provide a functional and appropriate interface to artificial habitat. For people, it must also be legible, engaging and desirable enough to encourage its fabrication, installation and continued use.
Rather than treating these requirements separately, the project explores how ecological function and human engagement might reinforce one another. The translated tree geometries therefore operate both functionally and visually: responding to non-human habitat requirements while making those requirements perceptible to the people responsible for providing them.