“Not only hollow” cabinet
by Dirk Vander Kooij · Amsterdam, Netherlands

The “iced bubbles and oak” cabinet suspends solid wood in a low-resolution 3D printed shell. This pairing is autobiographical in nature: drawing upon Dutch designer Dirk van der Kooij’s background in carpentry and present-day explorations in synthetics.

The glass-like outer ring is the product of Dirk’s house-developed 3D printing robot. Reclaimed polycarbonate, ranging in origin from CDs to chocolate molds, is extruded into a single, molten thread–akin to the filament of standard 3D printing. As the robot draws upwards, the unlikely source material settles into crystalline hills and valleys.

Solid wood shelving grounds the form with a countering simplicity. As the oak appears to sink into its foamy casing, the plastic reveals impressive strength. Much like the struts and trusses of a bird’s hollow bones, the bubble pattern simultaneously lightens and reinforces the design.

The “iced bubbles and oak” unit displays synthetics and wood on a shared platform. In doing so, Dirk Vander Kooij honors the opposing materials equally. The embrace sees knots in wood echo pulsating printed strata: both, ultimately, are textures of growth.