榫卯

I remember when I was little, my father used to make the furniture by himself. A pile of timber would be transformed into the table, chairs, cabinet, and cloth covered sofa. It totally amazed me.

Childhood memories are full of the fresh smell of timbers from shaving the wood, and the sound of sawing…

As I grew up to become a designer, I’ve maintained the my appreciation for the natural feeling of wood. I like wood furniture for it's warm touch and the natural smell.

Wood is from the forest and human being is mothered by the nature. The closeness that people enjoy with wood may derive from the nature.

As a designer, both in study and work, one inevitably encounters the long history of the Chinese craftsmanship in both architecture and furniture. The tenon-and-mortise joint structure as the essence of traditional Chinese furniture and architecture has always attracted my curiosity. I collected some literature on architecture and furniture and many e-books on the tenon-and-mortise joint structure online. The delicacy and beauty of tenon-and-mortise joints are truly appealing and stunning.

But a question remains. The tenon-and-mortise joint in books are two dimensional drawings. One has to use one’s imaginations to reconstruct these into a three dimensional structure. The simple ones are easier to understand. But the more complex ones are really taxing on the brain and in the end I could not get to the bottom of it.

This inspired me: Could I use computer technology and 3D models to gain a clear perspective of the classical tenon-and-mortise joint structures?

Further, what about making the tenon-and-mortise joint structure on iPhone and iPad like playing a game? How wonderful would that be!

Sometimes I think, maybe one day I can become a carpenter, a craftsman.

Through 6 months of preparation and hard work, my team has accomplished this little dream.

We can provide:

a high quality 3D model to view the 27 classical tenon-and-mortise joint structures broken down into their composite parts;

exquisite designs to present the timber materials suitable for the tenon-and-mortise joint structure;

well-versed interactive explanations of commonly used traditional carpentry tools;

visual and interesting instruction about the history and evolution of the tenon-and-mortise joint structure;

the ability to share on the social networks;

So this is the tenon-and-mortise joint structure dedicated to all those who have a passion for nature, wood, and design. Together let’s enjoy the beauty of tenon-and-mortise joint structure!

Thank you to all those who offered us a helping hand!

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