Nada Debs and TRAME use generative design for Interplay Backgammon Board

Nada Debs and design gallery TRAME present Interplay, a new backgammon board that brings together Lebanon’s enduring tradition of marquetry with generative design and computational creativity. “The Interplay Backgammon Board explores heritage through a contemporary lens, transforming one of the world's oldest strategy games into a dialogue between craft, computation and play,” Studio Nada Debs notes in the official release.

Developed in collaboration with marquetry craftsman Nabil Haswani and Berlin-based contemporary artist and creative coder Anna Lucia, who made a custom algorithm for generating new designs for the board, Interplay is the result of the logic of an ancient handmade craft becoming the foundation for a contemporary digital system. “Rather than simply replicating traditional marquetry patterns, the custom algorithm was developed by studying the craft's structural logic, material constraints and methods of assembly. By learning the rules that make each composition feasible, the system generates endlessly unique designs that introduce an element of controlled randomness to a craft traditionally defined by repetition and geometric order,” the design studio explains.

Each resulting composition is then handcrafted by Haswani, who has practised the art of marquetry for more than five decades and is among the last remaining practitioners of it in Lebanon. The process creates a dialogue between computation and the human hand, expanding the visual possibilities of marquetry while remaining grounded in its traditional methods.

"I've always believed that technology should serve craft, not replace it. Interplay is the result of a conversation between different disciplines, where ancient craft techniques informed the algorithm, and the algorithm, in turn, opened new creative possibilities for the craft. It is about bringing these disciplines into dialogue to ensure that these heritage crafts continue to evolve and remain relevant for the future," says designer Nada Debs of the eponymous contemporary design studio based in Beirut, Dubai and Osaka.

The project also extends beyond the physical object. An accompanying online platform allows users to generate their own one-of-a-kind backgammon board, translating the generative system behind Interplay into an accessible digital design experience. “Interplay continues Nada Debs' ongoing exploration of how traditional craftsmanship can evolve without losing its essence. By embedding the intelligence of marquetry into code, the project opens new creative possibilities while preserving the knowledge, materiality and human hand at the heart of the craft,” the studio concludes.