Building super craft

To further my point about Hyper-Craft...I spied these two pieces in an exhibition of work by students at the Beckman College of Design (found on the via Yatzer). The necklace chair is really interesting. Last winter in New Orleans I saw a amazing Victorian House that had a wooden garland much like this- draped on every porch bay. We all marveled at the detail and said that it must have been built by a 19th century shipbuilder because they would be the only one with such a skill. How did this student acquire this skill? Modern technology?