The Barbican is a celebrated Brutalist architectural scheme built in the City of London after the Second World War. This chess set pays homage to its superior qualities of design and workmanship.
The shapes of the chess pieces are drawn from architectural forms found within the Barbican complex. The finely carved surface treatment of the pieces reflects the much admired rusticated concrete textures of the buildings which were originally achieved by the effects of labour-intensive pneumatic pick and bush hammering.
For these chess pieces a process of digital sculpting was employed to reproduce this impressive detail whilst allowing for a more contemporary production method.
A Haptic Arm provides physical feedback when sculpting "digital" clay on screen.