Process

A man welding metal, sparks flying, in an industrial workshop.

Operating at the nexus of art and science

Terra Ligna designs and fabricates bespoke three-dimensional topographic installations for residential, hospitality, and commercial environments.

Each commission is developed in collaboration with our clients and/or their interior designers and architects, ensuring the work integrates seamlessly into the surrounding material palette and spatial intent.

Three men are having a discussion in what looks like a workshop or maker space. One man is explaining something while holding a cylindrical object, with tools and a piece of hardware on the table in front of them. The background has organized storage bins and wooden supplies.

02. Digital Design and GIS

We source from the highest-resolution Digital Elevation Models available — from advanced aerial photogrammetry and LiDAR surveys — to capture terrain with exceptional fidelity.

Each dataset is carefully refined using proprietary modeling workflows, allowing us to sculpt landscapes with both scientific precision and artistic intent.

The digital terrain is transformed into a highly detailed three-dimensional model — often several gigabytes in scale — and prepared for production over days of computation. This model becomes the foundation for the physical work.

A small-scale physical sample is always provided to our clients prior to moving forward on one of our projects.

01. Collaboration & Customization

Every Terra Ligna piece is bespoke.

We collaborate directly with designers and architects to determine:

  • Geographic map area

  • Scale and proportion

  • Elevation exaggeration and detail density

  • Wood species selection

  • Framing or furniture design

  • Customized cartographic labeling of points of interest

Whether for a private dining room, boardroom, hospitality lobby, or large-scale residential installation, each work is tailored to its architectural context.

Two men analyze a 3D model or terrain map on a computer screen, with one pointing at the model.
A man with a beard, wearing glasses, a hat, and a blue plaid shirt, smiling while operating a chainsaw on a large tree stump outdoors.

04. Carving the Landscape

Each piece is carved over multiple days on precision CNC systems operating at deliberately slow feed rates.

A larger bit is used to remove most of the waste material above the landscape, and eventually extremely small diameter bits are used to finish the landscape in exquisitie detail.

The extended machining time allows for exceptional surface definition — subtle ridgelines, mountian peaks, riverbanks, and valleys are rendered with clarity and depth.

Some commissions require up to a week of continuous carving before the landscape is fully revealed.

03. Wood Sourcing and Prep

Mike is a sawyer with a wood collecting addiction, and a deep love for trees.

Mike falls and mills hardwood and suitable medium-density woods that have been reclaimed or sustainably harvested around the US and stores them for seasoning on his properties in Washington state, Utah, and Truckee.

Once a log has been milled into a slab for a map, it is kiln-dried for several months to reduce moisture content as much as possible, which minimizes wood movement over time.

Live-edge slabs are removed after kiln drying, and processed on the CNC. Steel bars are inserted in the back sides for torsional rigidity, longevity, and mounting options.

Person operating a CNC machine carving a detailed design into a large wooden panel in a woodworking workshop.
Person working on a large wooden board in a woodworking shop, with a level placed on the board and woodworking supplies and tools in the background.

06. Fabrication (Functional Furniture)

We fabricate many different styles and types of hardwood and metal frames and table bases to support and display our maps in our bespoke functional furniture pieces.

Our reclaimed ski resort chairlift haul rope table bases begin in the summer months when we salvage the braided steel cable from ski resort scrap piles. Most resorts are unable to recycle this cable when they re-string chairlifts due to the plastic core, so it sits rusting away and pollutes fragile alpine enviroments.

Mike painstakingly unravels the cable, removing the delrin core (which can be recycled by itself), and then cleans the unwould parts of the cable braids by hand. At that point the cable is reassembled, and worked into circular shapes or curves as table legs, bases, or map frames. The map table structuress are then sandblasted and powder coated and the haul rope lives on forever by once again lifting up our maps.

05. Framing (Wall Maps)

Custom hardwood frames are fabricated at client’s specifications to provide a backing frame for some of the wall maps we make.

Live-edge slab maps can also be finished and mounted directly to the wall in a client’s space.

A man wearing glasses and a cap, smiling, stands next to a large wooden spool of thick, rusty wire outdoors in a wooded, mountainous area.
A laser cutter engraving a detailed topographical map of a mountainous landscape on a large piece of wood.

08. Hand Finishing

Meticulous care is used to go over every square inch of the landscape of our maps to sand them smooth so as to preserve the intricate details rendered into wood by the CNC machine.

This phase of our process is one of our favorites, as we trade off days spent sending and polishing some of the most incredible landscapes on the planet (or the solar system).

07. Cartographic Details & Badging

Per each client’s desire, we use either the CNC or a laser engraver to add customized cartographic details to each of our maps. With a hybrid technique, we are able to add any desired items, such as:

  • Roads & Highways

  • Bike trails or Hiking trails such as the Pacific Crest Trail

  • Chairlifts

  • National Park Boundaries

  • Wineries

  • Vineyards

  • Restaurants

A person using a rotary tool to carve wood on a piece of wood. The person is wearing a bracelet, and the woodworking workspace appears professional.
A person holding a paintbrush and a small cup in a workshop, working on a large wood piece with detailed carved patterns resembling a landscape with mountains, trees, and water.

10. Sealing & Finishing

Each of our maps is finished per client specifiations. Some clients perfer water-based Bona satin finish, others may want spray lacquer, mineral oil, or even tinted stains.

We have extensive experience with wood species and various finishing options, and sdamples are always provided to the client prior to application on their project.

09. Epoxy Lakes

If a map has waterbodies, we offer clients the option to include epoxy resin lakes.

In some cases, we are able to obtain bathymetric (bottom surface) data of lakes and oceans. When this data is available, Grant seamlessly merges it with the topographic (above water) data - sometimes in different vertical exaggerations to differentially showcase terrain - and then we pour food safe low no VOC blue tinted epoxy resin into the lakes so that our cients can enojy sseing through the water to the bottom.

In cases where the bathymetric data is unavailable, we carve pockets down into the map and showcase lakes with opaque blue epoxy resin.

A person pouring blue epoxy resin onto a wooden surface with a grain pattern for a tabletop project.
A wooden box with orange clamps on a truck bed, filled with a mixture of clay and sand, possibly for construction or pottery, with a person standing nearby and autumn trees in the background.

12. Installation

Installation services can also be included in each of our bespoke custom maps.

11. Crating and Shipping

A customized shipping crate is constructed for each piece that is to be shipped or delivered outside of the Reno/Tahoe Area.

In some cases, such as very large (>4ft) glass mirror frames, we fabricate crates even when the maps are delivered within Tahoe/Reno area.

We work with various leading LTL providers and always ship our projects with adequate insurance.

A man in a green t-shirt and tan pants standing on a yellow ladder installing or working on a large tiled wall that resembles a topographical map with a blue water feature in an indoor room with white walls and ceiling lights.
A smiling man in a tank top and shorts sitting on the edge of a flatbed trailer loaded with wooden planks and lumber, parked outside near industrial buildings and a silver SUV, with a clear sky in the background.
A woodworking machine milling a wooden surface with shavings on the wood and surrounding area.
A wooden table with a large, irregularly shaped mirror reflecting a cloudy sky with pink and orange hues and trees.
Man with a yellow cap, rainbow tie-dye tank top, and tan shorts kneeling and using a drill on a large, textured wooden map in a workshop with tools and yellow safety barriers in the background.
Workshop workspace with tools, clamps, a cordless drill, safety gear, and a large metal work table with a pegboard surface, with a backdrop of a forest scene on a wall.
A smiling man with a beard and a black cap standing outdoors beside a table with a wood and resin outdoor art piece reflecting a sunset sky and trees. A black pickup truck and residential houses are in the background.
Two people in a woodworking workshop observing a large, irregularly shaped wooden piece with foam padding underneath, possibly for soundproofing or display purposes.
A CNC router machine cutting a piece of wood, with wood shavings scattered on the table beneath.
A person using an angle grinder to cut or grind a steel wire rope, with sparks flying, outdoors on dirt ground near a wooden platform.
Multiple twisted steel cables laid out on a concrete floor.
A bearded man wearing glasses, a gray cap, and a green jacket is taking a selfie outdoors in a mountainous area with a large spool of thick, rusty wire in the background. The area is surrounded by trees and rocky terrain.
A metal welding project on a wooden workbench, featuring a drilled metal plate with handwritten measurements, a twisted steel rebar frame, and a gloved hand.
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