Impala Project
Koa armchair
A sculptural armchair in sustainably harvested Formosan koa, created with Waveaffects in Hsinchu. CNC-milled components were refined by hand to reveal the wood's flowing figure, forming a horn-like back and arms that suggest a young impala's poise. The project tested whether digital fabrication and hand finishing could meet in a single piece without one dominating the other.
Form exploration
The design started with sketches exploring how a chair could capture the alert, balanced stance of a young impala. Multiple variants tested seat and back angles through small wood mockups, checking stability and visual proportion at each round. The goal was a form that felt both sculptural and functional, where the structural lines of the chair read as a single flowing gesture rather than assembled parts.
Material preparation
Formosan koa is dense, rigid, and prone to hidden internal stresses. The wood went through a month-long boiling process to relieve those stresses before any cutting. Custom plywood molds were designed for the 5-axis CNC, and koa-specific joinery was developed to account for the wood's tendency to split along the grain. This phase was the longest, and getting it right determined whether the final milling would produce clean surfaces or fractured edges.
Machining and assembly
Four components (seat, back, arms, legs) were CNC-milled from the conditioned koa blanks. The machine set the geometry with precision that hand tools could not match, but the surfaces needed extensive hand finishing to restore the organic warmth of the wood. Master artisans in Hsinchu hand-sanded each component, applied oil finishes to bring out the koa's natural figure, and assembled the final piece with fitted joinery.
Specifications
W120 × D85 × H35/70 cm · natural + bleached/dyed Formosan koa · CNC + hand finishing · collaboration with Waveaffects, Hsinchu · Taichung, Taiwan · 2019–2020
Gallery
- Challenges1/2
Hidden stresses in koa caused cracking on early cuts. The boiling schedule and mold geometry had to be revised. CNC toolpaths fought the wood's rigidity, so passes were reprogrammed and feeds slowed to achieve clean surfaces without burning or tearing.
- Insights2/2
Schedule material conditioning and stress tests before machining. Koa needs more time than hardwoods used in previous projects. The best results came when CNC precision set the geometry and hand finishing restored the organic flow that makes the wood worth using.
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