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Baubotanik 3 Scaffolding 4 Grafting 5 Multiplying 8 Columns 10 Assembly 11 Enclosures and Systems 12

Case Studies Plane Tree Cube 13 Eco Boulevard 14 Fab Tree Hab 15 Park Supermarket 16

Historical Precedents Living Root Bridges 17 Arthur Weichula 18 Konstantin Kirsch 19 Rudoplh Doernach 20 Friedensreich Hundertwasser 21

Bibliography 22

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IntroductionPurpose of this ReportTo fulfill the required 03.0 credit hours of a technology core course at a Master of Architecture level (ARCH 5992). The proposed study has been completed as a technology elective supervised by international visiting Pro-fessor Richard Kroeker and submitted through Fachhochschule Düsseldorf.

GoalMy goal was to research the integration of living plant/food systems into building systems. This goal fits within a broader objective of understanding how architecture responds to and leads environmental sustainability and food production for new urban models.

ApproachMy approach has been to study the use of living plants in building systems, both as an enhancer of passive environmental strategies and towards sustainability and/or food pro-duction. Documentation involved online litera-ture research, interviews, site visits and photos.

Research SubjectBaubotanik, Germany

Baubotanik, Stuttgart by practicing architects Ferdinand Ludwig, Oliver Storz and Hannes Schwertfeger in Stuttgart, Germany who work from the Institute for Architectural Theory (IGMA) at the University of Stuttgart. “Baubotanik is a method of construction that utilizes living plants as the load bearing systems in architectural structures. Baubotanik takes advantage of the “constructive intelligence” of plants.” In summary, Baubotanik involves the use of a temporary structural scaffold onto which trees are grafted. When the trees reach maturity, the support structure is removed and the trees support the load of the building.

Additional Research ProfilesContemporary Case Studies:

Eco Boulevard, Spain• Fab Tree Hab, USA• Park Supermarket, Netherlands•

Historical Precedents:Living Root Bridges, India• Arthur Weichula, Germany• Konstantin Kirsch, Germany• Rudolph Doernach, Germany• Friedensreich Hundertwasser, Austria• “Primitive Hut”, the first act of architecture made from

living trees, source: http://deconstructionand.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/hut4.jpg

Relevancy to Future ResearchIncreased prevalence of industrialized farming and the spatial arrangement in cities contribute to a distant relationship between humans and nature. Current food production and consumption practices have a heavy ecological impact as cities increasingly promote convenience eating and grocery stores stock processed food manufactured many miles away. Architecture, as both a respondent and shaper of culture, can play a critical role in reconnecting us with food and nature. This research is relevant to my thesis interests that focus on the question:

How can architecture affect rituals of growing, buying and consuming food and thus develop more sustainable urban models?

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What is Baubotanik? Baubotanik is a building process that uses living earth-bound trees as structural members. Live trees are planted in the ground, roots serving as a foundation and trees as columns. Temporary scaffolding supports the floor plates while grafted trees come to maturity (10-15 years) after which time the scaffolding is re-moved and the trees support the floor plates.

ApplicationBaubotanik buildings are best suited for outdoor pavilion type structures but could support enclosed structures, depending on the program and climate. See Baubotanik future proposals at the end of this section.

Topics Covered: Scaffolding• Grafting• Multiplying• Columns • Construction• Enclosures and Systems• Case study: Nagold Tower•

BaubotanikPreparation for Building Trees are pre-grown in a nursery and rather than pour footings, the trees are planted and roots act as foundations/footings. Steel scaffolding and floor plates are prefabricated for quick assembly on site. ObservationsObviously a major challenge is the construction time, which takes 10-15 years. With that in mind, this structural strategy has a number of benefits. The wood used in the structure is 1:1 compared to traditional wood frame construction which wastes much wood. It is a building method for the long term and if planned as such, can grow along with the program in an environment.

ContactsFerdinand Ludwighttp://www.ferdinandludwig.com/

Baubotanikhttp://www.baubotanik.de/

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Scaffolding As the trees take 10 - 15 years to reach maturity, temporary scaffolding is put in place and later removed when the floor plates can be supported by the trees.

The “Tower” project, scaffolding and tree wall growth

diagram of scaffolding structure.

scaffolding with the tree columns in place

diagram of floor plates.

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Tree Grafting An important strategy for Baubotanik building is tree grafting to increase strength of the struc-tural elements. Two or more trees are grafted together. Simply, two branches naturally fuse when they are pressed and held together, a phenomenon that occurs in nature anyway. Tree grafting in the Baubotanik process is used in a strategic way as a whole structural system. Tree grafting significantly increases the amount of wood per living column. Trees which have been tested with successful results are as fol-lows:

Birch (works well but is short-lived)• Sycamore (“Planaten” used in Nagold • Tower project)Black Alder, European Alder or Common • AlderEuropean or common hornbeam• Beech (slow growing)• Willow • (works well but is short-lived)

The Baubotanik lab is conducting further tests on a number of tree species including ash, hickory, elm and oak. Most of the species are also found in Canada which would suggest the application of this technique there.

a simple screw holds two branches together so they will merge into one branch

two branches merged in a cross-knot

two year old cross knot

of Platanus Acerifolia

(Sycamore)

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Tree Grafting

after the second growing season, the branches start to merge around the metal hand rail

after the fourth growing season, the branches have encompassed the metal hand rail

“The nodal points where the plant struts are joined with the stainless steel handrail make vis-ible how the stability of the structure increases through the growth.”

- Ferdinand Ludwig

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tree columns will eventually envelope the steel connection to the floor plates

Nagold project from which these details are taken

Tree Grafting

Parallel knot merge of two young Sycamore branches in the Nagold Tower.

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MultiplyingThe Baubotanik researchers used multiplying to strengthen the columns in the Nagold Tower, shown here. The main strategic difference between baubotanik and typical “green walls” is that the living trees are all earth bound. This requires less maintenance as the trees perform virtually as they wood in nature. In order to mul-tiple the tree columns using tree grafting, the Nagold Tower has earth boxes on each level. When the trees have merged together, the earth boxes will be removed and only the roots at grade will be feeding the final structure.

This strategy comes from the ancient fig tree process where a new trees grow over top of the old one, naturally merging to create a new stronger tree. Eventually the original tree is redundant.

many trees are grafted into fewer

larger trees

eventually all but the earth bound roots die and the boxes are removed leaving one stronger tree column

ancient fig tree natural multiplying

process

Many trees are grafted together to make each strong earth-bound column

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Multiplying By grafting the young tree columns together and planting many trees within the structural system it accounts for variance in the tree growth. Certain trees will die in the process as survival of the fittest takes place. The Baubotanik researchers believe that enough trees have been planted in their structures to prevent the building from collapses when a few die. They also prune the trees regularly so the South facing trees do not get too big and shade the North facing ones.

diagram showing different pos-

sible structural configurations

for the trees

conceptual diagram: multiple trees merge to

form fewer stronger trees

diagram showing possible scenarios for surviving trees in the structure.

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The first time the Baubotanik group experi-mented with living trees as structure was in this foot bridge built in 2005. Young willows were planted as columns that instantly beared the load of the walking bridge. Willows have a short life span but can be easily removed and replaced if they die, making them an effective tree for this experiment.

“The footbridge does not possess a foundation in the usual sense of the word. The vegetable supporting structure absorbs all the load exclu-sively and redirects it into the ground where the structure is anchored by the roots.” - Ferdinand Ludwig

Tree Columns

section showing foot bridge with willow columns

plan and long section showing foot bridge with willow columns

detail of column

connecting to steel foot

bridge

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Baubotanik’s first tower project construction is shown here. All the parts are pre-fabricated and pre-grown so assembly was quick.

Tower Assembly

trees grown in a greenhouse

the first steel columns are driven into the ground

trees in earth planters go up with floor plates

after only a couple of days the tower comes together

constructioncompleted

after one growing season

Baubotanik’s first tower under con-struction

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Enclosure and Systems These images* are from a recent competi-tion submission by Ferdinand Ludwig and the Baubotanik team. They demonstrate propos-als for living spaces, like exterior living rooms to supplement single and multi-family living space.

* These images are not for public distribution without per-mission from Ferdinand Ludwig

evaporation / transpiration

evaporation / transpiration

roof watergrey water

winter summer

uptake by the roots

trench / water storagefiltration

surface water

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Plane Tree CubeNagold, Germany

The Plane-Tree-Cube is a contribution to the re-gional horticultural show 2012 in Nagold, south west of Stuttgart. It is the largest baubotanik building to date and the first to be constructed in an urban environment. The trees used are the “Plane tree”, most similar to American sycamore. The initial structure is quite heavy in-cluding 36 tonnes of steel which will be 25 after the temporary scaffolding is removed. Also 20 tonnes of earth in the planter boxes will also to be removed.

Nagold Tower is set to open Spring 2012

section / summer

section / winter

view of scaffolding

and inner courtyard

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Eco Boulevard Madrid

Eco Boulevard is a pilot project in Vallecas, a suburb of Madrid by Urban Ecosystem (Belinda Tato and Diego José Luis Vallejo García) to test the climatic adaptation of outdoor spaces.

The “trees” are made with recycled materials like linoleum, steel and concrete. The structure stands about 60 metres tall with a radius of 29 metres.

components in axo

structure tree 1: “mediático” media tree 1: “lúdico” playful tree 1: “mediático”

Living plants, sun and wind are used to create micro-climates and generate electricity

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Eco Boulevard Madrid

photovoltaic panel

wind turbine

crawling plants

refrigeration conduit

tubular air space

water mist collected from

plants cools air further

wind break and barrier to preserve

microclimate

skin protects from sand,

wind and debris

earth for plants

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Eco Boulevard Madrid

The “tree” cylinder is made up of sixteen tubu-lar conduits with wind catchers at the top. The wind catchers have sensors which expell air hotter than 27 º C. The rest is pushed down and cooled by water spray from the plants in the wall. This reduces the air temperature by 10 º C. It also purifies toxins in the air.

solar panels

wind intake

interior view with plants

cool air vent

16 tubular conduits create a micro-climate

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Eco Boulevard Madrid

sunken plaza helps

promote micro-climate by providing a sheltered

space

columns at grade

ceiling view

view of interior

interior showing structure and plants

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Park SupermarketNetherlands

The Park Supermarket was designed by Van Bergen Kolpa Architects of Rotterdam. This “landscape supermarket” will be used for cul-tivating and selling food with departments for rice, fish, meat, fruits, and vegetables.

The project includes inter-dependant energy and growing systems and micro climates using, for example, “warmth accumulating snake walls and more contemporary solutions as insu-lating water spray ‘roofs’ and floor heating on the basis of thermal warmth.”

section showing micro climate strategies

plan view

model view of supermarket landscape

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detail of facade showing water collection, ventilation, and root system in section

Mitchell Joachim, Ph.D. of Massachusetts Institute of Technology on the Human Ecology Design team, has designed a home made of living plants, called Fab Tree Hab.

Solar radiation is linked to the importance of water cycles in the structure. In the winter, sun shines in the south windows, heating the thermal mass inside. In summer the overhang-ing roof shades the interior and uses the sun for photo-synthesis. A buoyancy-driven ven-tilation draws in cooler air at floor level. Solar hot water activates radiant floor pipes. The roof-top harvests water for human activity. A composting system recycles human waste and grey water which returns nutrients to the eco-system.

stages of development

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Section of Fab Tree Hab

Fab Tree HabUSA

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Living Root Bridges India

Using a species of Indian Rubber Tree, people have been growing Living Root Bridges for more than 500 years. Using a hollowed out tree trunk as a guide, they force the roots to grow straight out across a river. In ten to fifteen years, the bridges are strong enough to carry humans, some bridges up to fifty people.

As they are alive and still growing, they con-tinue to get stronger over time.

Umshiang Double-Decker Root Bridge

detail of bridge

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Arthur Wiechula Germany

Wiechula (1868 - 1941) was a German landscape engineer who explored “ar-borsculpture.” He believed it was absurd to cut down trees and saw them into planks when buildings could be made of living plants. He exploited the possibility of trees to be grafted together in a structural pattern.

conceptual drawing of living tree house

conceptual drawing of bridge

supported by living trees

sketch of grafted

cross-knot

tree grafting and shaping by Arthur Wiechula

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Konstantin KirschGermany

Konstantin Kirsch (born 1966) lives in Bauhaus, Germany. He has conducted research for living architecture since 1986. He is very involved in the permaculture movement and inspired the Baubotanik researchers.

example of tree grafting structure

“Living” room by Konstantin Kirsch

Konstanin Kirsch in his living tree chair

inside the “Ash Dome”

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Rudolph DoernachGermany

In the early 1960s, architect Rudolph Doernach investigated a marine colony made of liv-ing plant material, a form of “Biotecture” in a form he coined Hydropolis. He was interested in creating a material like a polymer made of self-generating raw materials and a built-in intelligence. He envisioned the dwellings as liv-ing, floating islands.

Doernach’s sketches of “Hydropolis”

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HundertwasserAustria

Friedensreich Huntertwasser (1928 - 2000) was an artist who was also interested in architec-ture and environmental issues. Hundertwasser focused on a type of architecture in harmony with nature. He promoted the preservation of the natural environment and “demanded a life in accordance with the laws of nature.”

The drawing on the left demonstrates his com-mitment to promoting natural life cycles in building. He designed composting toilets and integrated the principles of a constructed wet-land.

growing roof top by Hundertwasser, Vienna, Austria

Hundertwasser’s diagram of a living house

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* Images and information were collected from the following websites.

Park Supermarket“Park Supermarket,” van Bergen Kolpa Ar-chitecten, accessed January 7, 2012, http://www.vanbergenkolpa.nl/en/83_park_super-market.html

“Park Supermarket by Kolpa Architects will grow food onsite,” EcoFriend, accessed Janu-ary 7, 2012, http://www.ecofriend.com/entry/park-supermarket-by-kolpa-architects-will-grow-food-onsite/

Root Bridges “The Root Bridges of Cherrapunji,“ Atlas Ob-scura, accessed January 15, 2012, http://atlasobscura.com/place/root-bridges-cherra-pungee

“Living Root Bridges,” Living Root Bridges Blog, accessed January 15, 2012, ht tp://rootbridg-es.blogspot.com/

Arthur Wiechula image (two black and white side by side) http://www.ingomittelstaedt.com/index.php?/blog/

“History of Arborsculpture,” Design Boom: Ar-thur Wiechula (1868 - 1941), accessed Janury 17, 2012, http://www.designboom.com/eng/education/trees_wiechula.html

Konstantin Kirsch“The Tree Dome,” Konstantin Kirsch Project Website, accessed January 24, 2012. http://www.treedome.com/

“Primitive Hut” from Introduction source:Architnet Discussion Forum http://archinect.com/forum/thread/56986/grow-your-own-home

Rudolf Doernach“SeaFoam,” The Millenial Project 2.0, accessed January 18, 2012, http://tmp2.wikia.com/wiki/SeaFoam

Hundertwasser“Friedensreich Hundertwasser,” Wikipedia, ac-cessed January 10, 2012, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedensreich_Hundertwasser

“Roots: Hundertwasser, Veg.itect,” Veg.itec-ture: Beyond Green, accessed January 19, 2012, http://www.vegitecture.net/2008/09/hundertwasser.html

BIBLIOGRAPHY by project

BaubotanikMost information was collected through two interviews on January 16, 2012:- Ferdinand Ludwig, Institute for Basics of Mod-ern Architecture (IGMA), University of Stuttgart - Moritz Bellers from the Institute of Landscape Planning and Ecology at the University of Stuttgart

“Living Plant Constructions,” Ferdinand Ludwig official website, accessed January 12, 2012, http://www.ferdinandludwig.com/footbridge.html

“Baubotanik,” Baubotanik: Background of a Building Technique, accessed January 10, 2012, http://www.baubotanik.de/

Other information was gathered from site visits to the Nagold Tower project. Photographs are courtesy of Ferdinand Ludwig or personal pho-tographs of Beth MacLeod and Holly Simon. They may not be published on line or for broad distribution without permission.

Eco Boulevard“Eco Boulevard in Vallecas,” WikiArchitec-tura, accessed February 18, 2012, http://en.wikiarquitectura.com/index.php/Eco_Bou-levard_in_Vallecas

“ECOSISTEMA URBANO ARQUITECTOS,” MI-MOA Modern Architecture, accessed Febru-ary 19, 2012, http://www.mimoa.eu/projects/Spain/Madrid/Eco%20Boulevard

Images are from the above sites and Kevin Lo.

Fab Tree HabM. Joachim, “Fab Tree Hab,” 306090 08: Autonomous Urbanism, Monson & Duval, ed., Princeton Architectural Press, 2005.

M. Joachim, J. Arbona, L. Greden, “Fab Tree Hab,” Thresholds Journal #26 DENATURED, MIT, 2003.

“Local Biota Living Graft Structure,” Whole Ecological Design, accessed February 18, 2012, http://www.archinode.com/bienal.html

Images are from the last website listed.