Dutch designer Arno Hoogland has developed a technique for transforming MDF panels into walls and furniture with hypnotic 3D textures.
In a solo exhibition for Milan design week, Hoogland showed how he uses a robot to carve intricate patterns into the surface of MDF, the engineered wood also known as medium-density fibreboard.
The show, titled Deus Ex Machina, saw the Amsterdam-based designer construct a “temple of the future” out of these digitally crafted panels.
Hoogland also presented chairs, tables and tiles made from the material, including some with a silver metallic finish.
“It’s a tribute to MDF,” Hoogland told Dezeen during a tour of the show.
“MDF is not the most elegant material – no one is proud of using it. But I wanted to show that MDF can be beautiful.”
Hoogland developed the technique after discovering a software program that could turn his 2D drawings into 3D textures. He uses this to program his CNC milling machine, which carves the textures into the MDF panels.
The CNC robot was in operation throughout Milan design week, allowing Hoogland to gradually build up the walls of his MDF temple.
Some of the textures had a geometric logic, formed of organised lines and repeating patterns. Others were more like graphic artworks, with abstract forms and overlapping motifs.
The designer hoped to show a different side to a material often seen as cheap and ugly.
Having trained as a carpenter before becoming a designer, he wanted to be proud rather than ashamed of using MDF.
“I never used to show the machine and, when people asked me what the material was, I would say pressed wood. I never said the word MDF,” he said.
“This exhibition is me coming out of the closet,” he continued.
“I wanted to show everyone what we can do with this material. It would take a long time to do all this by hand with a chisel, but we make it easy.”
MDF is made by pressing a mixture of waste wood fibres and glue at a high temperature. Some MDFs are more eco-friendly than others, depending on the choice of binding agent.
Hoogland used an MDF made with plant-based glue, billed as “the world’s first biobased MDF”. Provided by material supplier Blok Plaatmateriaal, it is the Fibralux Biobased from Belgian manufacturer Unilin.
“This is the MDF future,” Hoogland said.
Deus Ex Machina formed part of the Isola Design District, a subsection of Milan design week that spotlights young and emerging designers and studios.
The exhibition title is a Latin term that translates as “god from the machine”. To reinforce the idea of the robot as a creator of new worlds, Hoogland put it under a spotlight in the middle of the exhibition.
His robotically carved MDF chairs and tables were displayed around the temple, surrounded by piles of sawdust created from the carving process.
These included the silver objects, which were created by adding a chrome finish to the carved MDF.
The exhibition walls were covered in tiles, which were offered on sale to visitors. Every piece sold was accompanied by a letter claiming to be written by the MDF itself.
It read: “Many say I drifted too far from my wooden roots and hate me for my dusty reputation. But I am very loveable. Embrace the dust. For we are all dust, and to dust we shall return.”
Studio photography is by Bram Spaan.
Deus Ex Machina was on show from 7 to 13 April 2025 as part of Milan design week. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.
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