This is either a bizarre coincidence, or one of these designers has inspired the other. In February we looked at New Sources, a project by German designer Matthias Gschwendtner, whereby he digitally scans tree offcuts produced by the lumber industry, then uses computational design to determine how those pieces could be integrated into furniture. A robot-arm CNC mill cleans up some of the surfaces, then the pieces are joined. Obviously, no two pieces are alike.

Matthias Gschwendtner

Matthias Gschwendtner

Another German industrial designer, Simon Gehring, has done essentially the same thing with his Regrowth project.

"Regrowth explores the connection between computational design and the use of leftover materials within the wood and forestry industry. Through digital technologies, wood is viewed in its naturally grown form, rather than seeing it as a linear, standardized unit.

Simon Gehring

"The evolved geometries are closely studied and analyzed to take advantage of their formal and constructive properties.

Simon Gehring

Simon Gehring

"The shape and construction of the furniture adapts to the naturally grown geometries. Rather than chopping the branches, they are minimally invasive processes using digital tools and fabrication methods.

Simon Gehring

Simon Gehring

"The naturally grown form language, which often serves as inspiration for furniture designs, is not elaborately imitated, but consistently and sustainably taken from nature. Regrowth vividly demonstrates how computational tools and digital manufacturing methods can be sensitively applied to the strategic use of leftover materials."

Simon Gehring

Simon Gehring

Gschwendtner is based in Berlin, Gehring in Stuttgart. (For those of you rusty on your German geography, those are not neighboring cities.) Neither designer mentions the other, and both projects appear to have been incepted in 2021.