Polyhedra Sculpture: Algorithmic Geometry Cast in Plaster and Wood

Start with a cube. Subdivide each face into smaller surfaces. Then make those surfaces morph, wrap, and fold around their neighbors until the original geometry dissolves into something that looks both organic and impossibly precise. That is the core move behind the Polyhedra Sculpture, a project that treats algorithmic subdivision not as an end in itself but as a gateway to physical craft: plaster casts, 3D prints, and a faceted wooden sphere that glows under gallery lighting.

Designed by Lars Renklint, the project won the Best in Category award at the Beegraphy Design Awards. Renklint used Beegraphy's cloud-based parametric editor as the primary design environment, developing a custom plugin to generate polyhedra beyond the platform's default cube. The dodecahedron became a key starting geometry, and the plugin was eventually published online so that others could generate and modify their own models. The work sits at the intersection of computational design scripting, digital fabrication, and participatory exhibition.

A Workshop Full of White Geometry

The workshop photographs reveal the project's material reality. Beneath gridded industrial windows, a table is scattered with white plaster molds and geometric forms in various stages of completion. Close-up shots show faceted plaster sculptures dusted with residue, their crisp edges catching raking light. These are not pristine gallery objects yet; they are iterations, prototypes that accumulate the marks of a casting process still being refined. The surfaces read as both mathematical and geological, with each subdivision plane meeting its neighbor at angles that feel simultaneously calculated and intuitive.

Renklint's parametric logic network subdivides, manipulates, and reassembles faces through rule-based operations. Each iteration exposed new relationships between geometry and form, and the plaster casts serve as physical records of that search. The translation from digital model to plaster mold is where the project gains its weight: computation alone produces screen geometry, but casting turns that geometry into something you can hold, rotate, and read with your hands.

From Pedestal Object to Fabrication Dialogue

A single white polyhedral sculpture mounted on a pedestal against a gallery wall offers the clearest reading of the project's formal ambition. Soft shadows pool in the concave facets while crisp edges stand in sharp relief, producing a depth that flat-screen renderings cannot replicate. Behind it, framed artwork provides an almost incidental backdrop, reinforcing that the sculpture holds its own as a spatial object rather than a decorative accessory.

Back on the workbench, a messier picture emerges. Multiple plaster prototypes in white and tan sit beside power tools and a computer monitor, collapsing the distance between digital model and physical artifact into a single frame. The tan pieces suggest experiments with different plaster mixes or curing conditions, while the tools confirm that post-processing, sanding, and trimming were essential steps. The computer screen, likely running Beegraphy or Grasshopper, closes the loop: parametric rules generate form, fabrication tests it, and observations feed back into the next iteration.

Wood, Light, and a Spherical Logic

The faceted wooden sphere is the project's most resolved object. Displayed on a white pedestal under focused gallery lighting, its warm timber grain contrasts sharply with the plaster pieces, proving that the same subdivision logic can migrate across materials without losing coherence. Each facet catches light at a slightly different angle, producing a subtle gradient across the surface that shifts as the viewer moves. It reads as a polyhedron that has been inflated into a sphere, its planar origins still legible in every edge.

The material shift matters. Plaster is fast and forgiving, ideal for iterative prototyping. Wood demands more commitment: each cut is deliberate, each joint permanent. By pushing the parametric geometry into timber, Renklint demonstrates that the algorithmic process is not locked to a single fabrication method but can scale in precision and material ambition.

An Exhibition That Invited Everyone to Design

The final exhibition view gathers multiple sculptures on tiered white pedestals under track lighting, presenting the collection as a family of related forms rather than isolated experiments. Each piece shares the same parametric DNA but expresses it differently depending on the base polyhedron, the subdivision depth, and the fabrication material. The tiered display creates a visual taxonomy, inviting visitors to compare and trace the variations.

Crucially, visitors were not just spectators. As part of the Beegraphy Design Awards exhibition, attendees could use Renklint's published plugin to design their own polyhedra and have them 3D-printed on site. The result was a growing collection of unique sculptures, each shaped by individual choices within the parametric framework. The exhibition became an open system: the designer set the rules, and the audience populated the space with outcomes no single author could have predicted.

Why This Project Matters

Parametric design tools are everywhere now, but the gap between screen geometry and physical presence remains wide. Renklint closes that gap methodically, moving from a custom Beegraphy plugin through plaster casting and 3D printing to a hand-finished wooden sphere. Each step tests whether the algorithmic logic survives contact with gravity, material grain, and human touch. The answer, convincingly, is yes.

The participatory exhibition model adds another layer. By publishing the plugin and inviting visitors to generate their own forms, Renklint reframes the designer's role from sole author to system architect. The polyhedron becomes a shared language, and the exhibition becomes a living proof that computational design can be both rigorous and genuinely accessible. For a competition entry, that is a rare combination of technical depth and public generosity.

View the Full Project

About the Designers

Designer: Lars Renklint

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Project credits: Polyhedra Sculpture by Lars Renklint Beegraphy Design Awards (uni.xyz).