This project was the result of an independent study (2013-14) at Virginia Tech's College of Architecture and Urban Studies in Blacksburg, VA. The steam-bent section of a wall sought to further our research (begun during our work on The Masonic Amphitheatre in Clifton Forge, VA) into the use of boat-building methods for making architecture and push the structural limits of wood within the context of creating habitable space. We combined state-of-the-art digital design and fabrication methods with centuries-old wood forming practices to create a section of a wall. The form work on which the wood was bent was designed using Rhino and then cut out of OSB using a CNC router. Locally sourced ash wood was cut to size, steamed with a commercial clothing steamer and then formed to the routed form work. The slender members were connected to each other with wood dowels and finally removed from the formwork to reveal a visually delicate, self-supported wall. The idea was that a complete space could be formed by such a wall where it is manipulated to suit the programmatic needs of the space. This led to the design of this unbuilt public art project that used the same concepts to create an unexpected space within a black cube.