ClayReefication

ClayReefication is a modular clay-printing project developed during the ACADIA 2025 Forces in Clay workshop. The work uses 3D graphic statics as the foundation for generating structural form: forces are expressed spatially as branching surfaces, interconnected voids, and pathways that translate directly into printable clay geometries.

The modules are organized around a vertical porosity, with openings that create protected cavities, circulation channels, and moments of light and shadow. Their shapes arise from balancing the geometric relationships revealed through graphic statics with the practical constraints of clay extrusion—layer stability, deposition order, and the need to maintain coherent geometry across multiple strata.

Each module operates as a standalone structure, but their proportions and aperture alignments also allow for aggregation into larger assemblies. The project focuses on how force-based form-finding can produce spatial qualities associated with reef systems: layered density, sheltering pockets, and a gradation between exposed and protected surfaces.

ClayReefication sits at the intersection of computational form exploration and material-aware fabrication, using clay as both the medium and the constraint through which the force-driven geometry becomes legible.