Core77 2013 Year in Review: Top Ten Posts · Furniture, Pt. 1 · Furniture, Pt. 2
Digital Fabrication, Pt. 1 · Digital Fabrication, Pt. 2 · Digital Fabrication, Pt. 3 · Digital Fabrication, Pt. 4
Insights from the Core77 Questionnaire · Maker Culture: The Good, the Bad and the Future · Food & Drink
Materials, Pt. 1: Wood · Materials, Pt. 2: Creative Repurposing · Materials, Pt. 3: The New Stuff
True I.D. Stories · High-Tech Headlines · The Year in Photos

Is it any surprise that one of the oldest materials known to man—humble wood—was responsible for some of our highest-trafficked posts this year? Everyone from caveman industrial designers to modern-day architects to students love working the stuff.

This year we saw MTH Woodworks blending it with resin to create some eye-popping furniture pieces.

Japanese architect Kiyoshi Kasai figured out how to design wooden structures in an open-plan, yet seismically-resistant way.

We learned that the ancient species of wood known as Lignum Vitae is so bad-ass, they use it to make shaft bearings for nuclear submarines!

Speaking of bad-ass, this video of Steinway & Sons utilizing bentwood production methods on a massive scale to create their gorgeous pianos drew heavy traffic.

The real treat of the year was that we got to hear from two writers on some of the basic facts about wood—important information that they never taught us in design school. First off our new Materials writer, Scientific American's Christie Nicholson, schooled us with a three-part series on the different ways wood is cut into boards, important knowledge for furniture builders and designers.

Secondly, Christie ran a series on wood movement and how to deal with it.

And lastly, industrial designer Rob Wilkey graced us with his ten-part series "An Introduction to Wood Species," dropping knowledge on everything from pine to teak.

We hope you all found it as informative as we did, and let us know in the comments if you'd like to see similar series from us in 2014.

Core77 2013 Year in Review:
» Top Ten Posts
» Furniture Design, Pt. 1
» Furniture Design, Pt. 2
» Digital Fabrication, Pt. 1: New Machines for Consumers
» Digital Fabrication, Pt. 2: Materials, Processes and Business Developments
» Digital Fabrication, Pt. 3: Materials, Processes and Business Developments
» Digital Fabrication, Pt. 4: Research & Education
» Insights from the Core77 Questionnaire
» Maker Culture: The Good, the Bad and the Future
» Beer Innovation, Fine Art Sushi and More Beer Innovation
» Materials, Pt. 1: This Year in Wood
» Materials, Pt. 2: Using Old Materials in New Ways
» Materials, Pt. 3: The New Stuff
» True I.D. Stories
» High-Tech Headlines
» The Year in Photos