People / Gloriana Valverde
Gloriana Valverde is a designer who explores the relationship between manufacturing (with a special focus on digital fabrication) and material properties. By combining hands-on experimentation with computational design, she develops projects that combine physical and ditigal realms and rethinks production through circularity and accessible making. After graduating with a Bachelor in Product Design from the Universität der Künste Berlin, she currently works in a studio space in Berlin-Neukölln, where she produces furniture out of waste wood. She has also taught a grasshopper introductory workshop at Universität der Künste Berlin and is currently employed as an industrial design intern at Ic! Berlin.
DC.45
No two pieces of salvaged timber are the same, so I couldn’t design around standard dimensions and had to invert the process entirely. The limitation became the methodology. I developed a Grasshopper definition where CNC cutting paths automatically configure themselves based on each piece’s thickness and width, while keeping other dimensions standard so the legs and surfaces can be assembled using a store-bought peg joint.
This adaptability also means my work travels well: the same standard peg-joint system that lets me build around irregular salvaged material also allows each piece to be disassembled and shipped affordably, making it possible for me to exhibit in London without the cost of specialist freight.
This reflects the kind of design process
I want to focus on: building workflows around what is already available, rather than sourcing new, virgin materials. I make the pieces in a makerspace in Berlin.