Outside In

Inverting the traditional relationship of a typical tree bench, where one sits with their back to the tree, Outside-In instead refocuses the viewer’s attention toward the Heritage’s cherished tulip tree, creating an intimate space between the viewer and the object is being viewed. Outside-In inverts our usual experience of wood construction—one of the tree’s most recognizable characteristics, the bark, remains visible but is rotated to face inward in the same fashion as the orientation of the installation. The “outside-in” configuration of the bark allows for the utilization of the cut edge of a waste slab to create the finished edge of each TwMU , or Timber waste Modular Unit (patent pending). Outside-In was created entirely from waste resulting from the manufacturing and processing of commercial timber products. The waste wood trimmings came from logs in the normal milling process as they were rough sawn into lumber. The trimmings were then cut, rotated, and reassembled to form Outside-In’s basic structural unit.