Robot-milled foam moulds for a cast terrazzo leaf sculpture

From painted maquette to cast terrazzo. Swedish designer nioform partnered with artist Jennifer Forsberg on a cast terrazzo leaf pile. A hand-painted study was 3D-scanned, then reworked in Rhino and Grasshopper into a parametric layout of 83 individually placed leaves, each with unique orientation on the master negative.

Robotic foam milling programmed in ENCY CAD/CAM software. ENCY Robot drove the whole toolchain: roughing, semi-finishing and finishing on ABB and KUKA arms with foam ball-end and flat-end cutters up to D40. The big negative plus 83 small leaf moulds were machined from bonded EPS blocks, ready for direct casting.

Turnkey handoff to Herrljunga Terrazzo. Leaves are cast separately in their own colours, placed into marked slots inside the main negative and cast into the pile body over a lightweight core. A numbered map ships with the mould so every leaf lands where the digital layout put it.