Teaching

Upcycle Timber - A Design-to-Fabrication Workflow for Free-Form Timber Structures with Offcuts

Master Thesis by Dominik Reisach
Study Programme Architecture 2022

In this Master Thesis Dominik Reisach develops a digital methodology to use waste wood for creating load-bearing structures. Using offcuts from a sawmill he creates an algorithm for optimally aligning these and prepare them for digital fabrication. For the master thesis the efficacy of the method was demonstrated on a 1:1 protoype.

A Design-to-Fabrication Workflow for Free-Form Timber Structures with Offcuts - Dominik Reisach (MSc Architecture Thesis, 2022)

from InfAR (Bauhaus-Universität)

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This thesis presents methods for upcycling and designing low-engineered free-form timber structurewith offcuts — a waste material from timber production. In particular, the focus is on the developmentof a complete design-to-fabrication workflow that includes the measuring and assembly of offcuts, thusclosing the digital chain.

The process is streamlined to minimize material waste and facilitate the disassembly and reassembly of offcut structures. In the end, the workflow provides great flexibility and enables the design and realization of a wide range of architectural and structural typologies. However, these potentials are challenged by (1) the high complexity of the offcuts’ non-standard geometries, (2) the spatial relationship between the bespoke elements of an assembly, and (3) the condition of thematerial.

This research investigated these complex challenges and developed appropriate tools for an architectural design process with upcycled timber. Primarily, these include computational design methods andtools to align and orient offcuts, compute wood joints, and thus to address design-specific parameters.

The resulting information was used in integrated data workflows to generate and process fabricationrelevant data. Thereby, it informed and facilitated the handcrafting and robotic fabrication of several prototypes. Together with the strength tests that evaluated the structural capabilities of the waste wood, they validated the concept.

The relevance of this work is demonstrated through the design, robotic fabrication, and collaborative assembly of a 1:1 prototype. It proved that the integrated design-to-fabrication workflow is feasible to construct low-engineered free-form timber structures with offcuts, and, particularly, that these structures are both statically and aesthetically viable. In addition, the material-aware design tool is able to minimize fabrication waste and to conceive structures that follow the principle of design-fordisassembly—further contributing to the sustainability of the concept.