08/07/2026
At Open Sky, a 180 Degrees design-build project in Gold Canyon, we turned land into art. The site’s topography was surveyed and CNC-milled into a single block of Baltic birch plywood. As the bit cut down through each ply, the layers themselves surfaced as contour lines, every ridge and wash of the desert floor rendered in the grain.
Getting the land into the wood took some translation. We converted the site’s survey data into a 3D digital terrain model, then into the toolpaths that guided the CNC you see running in slide 2. The carving was set into a fabricated steel angle frame, with a single brass pin marking the spot where the home stands. Our team milled the Baltic birch, fabricated the steel, and installed the finished piece on site.
The project is rooted in reuse. Wood salvaged from the home’s original structure was given a second life as siding, charred using shou sugi ban, the Japanese technique that preserves wood by burning it. In slide 3, 180 Degrees architect Kyle Fiano, AIA, brings that same flame to the piece by hand.
