(Image: achimmenges.net)
This art piece illustrates nicely one of wood’s most interesting properties – its hygroscopicity. Wood attracts water from the surrounding atmosphere and binds it in its cell walls. What the artists did here was laminate an uneven number of veneers (usually a no-no in plywood production), which results in a plywood that curls up when air relative humidity (and therefore wood’s moisture content) changes.
With an intricate arrangement as shown in the image above and the video below, a structure can be created that opens and closes based on its surrounding climate.
HygroScope – Centre Pompidou Paris on Vimeo on Vimeo
You can find more information on this and the artists on achimmenges.net.