Rule-based Milling of Medieval Stone Patterns

Rule-based representations of craft production are instrumental in decoding the relations between shapes, materials, tools, and actions. They enhance our understanding of the generative processes of a craft, and in turn, our ways of transforming and translating it to new contexts. With the motivation to define procedures that bridge practical knowledge across manual and digital methods, this study proposes a computer implementation of a historical stone carving craft from Anatolia and integrates it into digital modeling and fabrication workflows. We develop a set of detailed making rules for a specific style of relief ornaments and create parametric digital models with the consequent toolpaths for 3-Axis milling. The sequences of subtractive steps with reference to the rule-based representations and the associated parametric model deliver results with implications for incorporating the knowledge of manual making to digital making.