Digital Ishibatate

This project explores digitally fabricating ishibatate, a traditional Japanese construction method where building frames rest on hand-scribed stone foundations. We utilized a 3D scanner and a robot arm to precisely translate the hand-scribing process into a digital workflow.

First, stones were 3D scanned. Then, the robot arm, guided by registration marks, linked the physical stone to its digital model. This enabled the accurate projection of curves onto the stone. The traditional hand-scribing of wood posts to fit the stone contours was then transformed into CNC-routed connectors, achieving high-accuracy fits between the wood posts and the stone foundations.

This process of generating stone-to-wood connections using robotic fabrication and CNC routing directly informed this project by raising critical questions about joinery, tolerance, and the integration of digital and analog workflows.

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