Future Wood

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Copyright 2007 Riverside Architectural Press

All rights reserved by the individual paper authors who are solely responsible for theircontent. No part of this work covered by the copyright herein may be reproduced or usedin any form or by any means - graphic electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying,recording, taping or information storage and retrieval systems without prior permission ofthe copyright owner. An electronic copy of these papers in .pdf format will be stored in the

CDRN database.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

FutureWood : Innovation in building design and construction / edited by Oliver Neumann and Philip Beesley.

Proceedings of the Parametric Modeling and Digital Wood Fabrication Workshop andSymposium, held at University of British Columbia, Feb. 14, 2007.

Canadian Design Research Network.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-9780978-2-0

1. Building, Wooden--Computer-aided design--Congresses.2. Architectural design--Data processing--Congresses.3. Architecture--Computer-aided design--Congresses.

4. Architecture--Technological innovations--Congresses.5. Architecture and technology--Congresses.I. Neumann, Oliver, 1967- II. Beesley, Philip, 1956- III. Canadian DesignResearch Network IV. Parametric Modeling and Digital Wood Fabrication Workshopand Symposium (2007 : University of British Columbia)

NA21.F88 2007 721.04480285 C2007-900762-7

Networks of Centres of Excellence

Reseaux de centres dexcellence

Cover: Ahmanson Founders Room at The Music Center, Los Angeles, Belzberg Architects

S IMON FRASER

UNIVERSITY

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University ofWaterloo


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FUTUREWOOD

7 PrefaceROBERT WOODBURY

Simon Fraser UniversityCanadian Design Research Network

8 Introduction Fabricating/Fabricated Ecologies

OLIVER NEUMANN University of British Columbia

14 Material Performance: Craft + Building

16 Ahmanson Founders Room The Music Center, Los Angeles

HAGY

BELZBERG

Belzberg Architects22 BURST*003 Housing Prototype

DOUGLAS GAUTHIER SYSTEMarchitects llc

30 Mass Produced CustomizationOMER ARBEL

Omer Arbel Design Office

34 Niagara Credit Union at VirgilPHILIP BEESLEY

University of Waterloo

40 Canonbury Canopy

MICHAEL STACEYMichael Stacey Architects University of Nottingham

44 Deform HouseTHOM FAULDERS

Beige Design

50 Solid Wood-Wall Cabin+ Outdoor Theater Roof StructureOLIVER NEUMANN

University of British Columbia

56 Time + Place The Politics of Designing with Wood

MICHAEL GREEN

mcfarlaneGreen architecture + design

64 CorelamCHRISTIAN BLYT

GreenHus Design

68 Wood Wave Panel SystemBRIAN WOUDSTRAStructureCraft Builders Inc

Contents


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72 Digital Practice: Operations + Logics

74 Responsive Surface StructureACHIM MENGES

Academy of Art and Design, Offenbach AA School of Architecture, London80 The Dry-in House

DOUGLAS HECKERMARTHA SKINNERfieldoffice

Clemson University

86 Digitally Integrated Design/BuildMARTY DOSCHER

morphosis

94 Tailors after TaylorismKARL DAUBMANNPly ArchitectsUniversity of Michigan

102 Fast Construction: Slow ArchitectureMICHAEL STACEYMichael Stacey Architects

University of Nottingham

108 Stock SpaceSHANE WILLIAMSON

WilliamsonWilliamsonUniversity of Toronto

114 Building Continuous Digital PlanningProcesses on Timber InfrastructureCHRISTOPH SCHINDLER

designtoproduction

121 Biographies

125 Image Credits

127 Conference + Publication Credits


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FUTUREWOOD

Wood and tools. Tey bring to mind the cabinetmakers factory, boat buildersjigs, the residential construction site, concrete forms and the amateurs work-shop. Each is at the end of conception, where already set ideas become reality.Mostly what is made are the ideas of others-the hand holding the tool isnot that of the designer. Te history of design would appear to force such aseparation between design and its realization. Modern artifacts are complexand demand specialized knowledge and machines for their production. It iseasy, or at least expedient, for designers to leave tools and materials to others.Sadly, the common view that designers are ungrounded in practical realitymay be simple historical necessity.

Tis book is a bridge. Its contributors, designers all, show how newtools can span the historical gap between thought and hand, between ideaand materiality. Contemporary computer-aided design systems and digital

fabrication machines allow us to bend the process of design in on itself, toconnect its start and finish. Both computation and physical machines aretools for developing the substance of design. Computational tools enliven thesketch. Once modeled inside a computer, a sketch becomes plastic. We develop,refine and adapt it to context. We create alternative sketches in the hundreds.Digital fabrication makes these sketches physical, as models, prototypesand built form. Te loop closes as we use the physical sketch to inform theworld of ideas. And the world of ideas changes as we learn the consequencesof our design choices.

Te contributors to this book are explorers in this new world in whichdesign and craft intertwine. But why wood? In contemporary design, it is butone of a myriad of material choices. Te answer lies in the material itself.Wood is easy to work and form; it is accessible to many. It affords possibility.Joining, laminating, carving, bending, cutting and finishing become sourcesof design ideas. Wood is also diffi cult ; its grain can vary unpredictably.Its differential strength and shrinkage with and across the grain, its limitsof folding and bending, and the peculiarities of the joint each pose creativechallenges for design. Lastly wood can be beautiful. It rewards inspiration,thought and effort.

Wood, though it is the focus here, remains a placeholder. Each materialposes its own questions to computer-aided design and digital fabrication.Contemporary practice worldwide is engaging these questions using allmaterials and across design domains. But action is inevitably localized.We build for specific sites, actual clients and engage local expertise. Troughtheir focus on the new tools for design, the old material of wood and their

particular design situations, the designers behind these articles are our guidesinto new possibilities.

Robert WoodburyCanadian Design Research NetworkSimon Fraser University

Preface


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New software and digital fabrication are changing how we use wood. Tisbook brings together international designers, manufacturers and researchersexamining natural and synthetic wood technologies. Composite materials,parametric design, and automated fabrication technologies are explored,illustrating new design tools, custom manufacturing and advanced assemblymethods. Te essays and projects in this volume demonstrate flexible, adapt-able design qualities reflecting a rapidly changing society.

Buildings can be seen not as singular and fixed bodies, but as complexenergy and material systems that have a life span, exist as part of the environ-

ment of other buildings, and as an iteration of a long series that proceeds byevolutionary development towards an intelligent ecosystem. 1 Tis approachto architecture applies to design at the scale of objects, buildings, and citiesand connects to global discussions about complexity and responsiveness.Parametric modeling and digital fabrication tools enable rich formal explo-rations and engage complex ecologies in our surroundings. Te aim is toexplore how digital fabrication can contribute to conceptual explorationsand form-finding processes, and how new technology can influence existingdesign and construction practices.

Parametric modeling establishes relationships between elements of adesign that are similar to mathematical equations. Element parameters canbe manipulated while constraints and dependencies between elements aremaintained. Te dynamic models that result are able to respond to changes

and offer a degree of flexibility and coordination never previously available.Tese processes of anticipation and response make up the dynamic of life 2and apply equally to everyday consideration of design, fabrication, andconstruction and to conceptual explorations of dynamic conditions.

Fabricating / Fabricated Ecologies

Oliver Neumann


1.

Michael Hensel, MichaelWeinstock, Achim Menges,Emergence in Architecture,in AD Architectural Design,Vol 74, No 3 (May/June2004) 7.

2.

Michael Weinstock,Morphogenesis and theMathematics of Emergence,in AD Architectural Design,Vol 74, No 3 (May/June2004) 13.

1Digitally cut pattern

Plywood sample


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Te essays and projects gathered in this publication confirm that it isinevitable that as a new technological system emerges, so does new art, oreven architecture.3 By exploring conditions and concepts shared by academ-ics, designers and fabricators, the presentations promote integration of digitaltechniques into design and construction practice. Te explorations illustratehow parametric modeling and fabrication can contribute to the conception ofnew spaces, to everyday realities of commercial construction and to the trans-formation of the regional wood industry from a resource-based economy toone based in knowledge.

Innovation and Ecology

Historically, any idea of Canadian architecture has been Janus-faced: lookingto past and future, to politics and practice, to material evidence and discourse.Rather than singular and static, any idea of Canadian architecture has been,or must be, multiple and mobile, hybrid and strategic 4

Innovation can be understood as a novel re-reading and an exploitationof an existing context. Such an approach tends to emphasize interdepen-dency between new design methods and their particular context in materialscience, economy and culture. Tese connected factors contribute to thecomplex ecology of our surroundings. Using an expanded definition ofecological design, context-specific material expression and built form becomesignificant references for architectural design and production.

Modes of production and communication play a central role in designgrounded in ecology. Interdisciplinary collaborations in design, building andresearch reflect epistemic conditions: concepts of innovation, ecology, tech-nology and place engage a cultural environment in flux.

While modern science often relies on an anthropocentric understandingof the environment, the current shift in terminology from environment to

ecology signals a reassessment of the surroundings. An extended definitionof ecology can expand the scope of design beyond the environmentalperformance of materials and types of construction to broad cultural consid-erations. Innovative design is ecological design. Tis principle embraces tech-nology as a key to future development and geographic identity. Aspects ofplace now include interrelated natural and man-made conditions, includingsocial, cultural, economic and technological factors. Te result isan all-inclusive definition of context.

Technology and Place

Spatial concepts are informed by the logic of fabrication and methods ofassembly. A reciprocal relationship between technology, space and localesuggests that the introduction of new technology coincides with new spatialconcepts. Concurrently, new technologies necessitate new buildings to housenew machines effectively. Te case of early industrial buildings in the nine-teenth century serves as an example of the correlation of new technologies,

3.

Chris Wise, Drunk in an Orgy ofTechnolgy, in AD ArchitecturalDesign, Vol 74, No 3 (May/June2004) 56.

OLIVER NEUMANN

4.

Sherry McKay, Ideas ofCanadian Architecture, in

Substance over Spectacle:contemporary Canadianarchitecture, ed. Andrew Gruft,(Vancouver, 2005) 192


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means of production and building wherein individual types of construction represented the various technical achievements of their time and newmachines with their extensive space requirements demanded progressivechange in the specifically industrial architecture. 5

Situating context-specific design at the intersection of local and global

influences has been a common theme since the early 20th century whenindustrialization and the increase of mass-produced building materialspromoted a sense of regionalism as a reconciliation of the universal and theregional, the mechanical and the human, the cosmopolitan and the indig-enous 6. However, modern applications of technology have often been treatedas independent of space and place.

West Coast Modernism

In British Columbia, influences of fabrication and building technology areevident in the development of a regional cultural identity. As an exampleof cultural transfer,7 Modern Canadian architecture and industrial designresulted from the integration of international and local influences: plywood

furniture, which represented the first example of industrial design to beproduced in BC8 merged a modernist sensitivity and modern fabricationmethods with local influences. Similarly, the architecture of the timesynthesized and reinterpreted cultural influences. Ideas and methodsimported predominantly from Europe were inflected with local conditionsas designers and manufacturers responded directly and imaginatively to theomnipresent landscape9 with its climate, geography and topography.

As a formation of a regional building identity stemming from theinventive adaptation of international contributions to suit the region, 10 BCsWest Coast Modernism marks a parallel development to the local expan-sion of war-time plywood fabrication into affordable designer furniture inthe United States. Illustrating the relationship of global developments ofairplane design and production with local design culture, the designs of Ray

and Charles Eames built on specialized knowledge, fabrication and buildingmethods from the aircraft industry. Te Eames houses for the Case StudyHouse program have a local as well as a national and internationalcontext.11 With the application of aviation materials, technology, andmanufacturing systems to the production of single family house units12,their architecture projects were strongly influenced by the development ofthe Los Angeles area into a national center of aviation during the first half ofthe 20th century.

oday, as standardization and mass-production have given way to mass-customization processes, digital fabrication technology offers an opportunityfor an architectural culture that simultaneously looks to the global develop-ments and to the particularities of the local context. Tis transformationapplies in particular to wood construction. In British Columbia, wood designand building provide a basis for a context-specific building culture, while glob-ally available technologies utilized in wood design and construction producetechnological networks with activities in spatially discrete locations. Tesenetworks create spatial relationships that tie social networks of producers13

7.

Rhodri Windsor Liscombe,Modern Architecture inVancouver, 1938-63,(Vancouver, 1997) 26 .

8.

Allan Collier, Plywood andModern Furniture Design inBritish Columbia 1945-1960,in A modern life: art anddesign in British Columbia,1945-1960, ed. Ian Thomand Alan Elder (Vancouver,2004) 118

FABRICATION / FABRICATED ECOLOGIES

5.

Susanne Lange, Bernd andHilla Becher. Life and Work,(Cambridge and London,

2007) 25.

9.

Windsor Liscombe, 27.

10.

Windsor Liscombe, 26.

11.

Kevin Starr, The Case StudyHouse Program and theImpending Future. SomeRegional Considerations, inBlueprints for Modern Living.History and Legacy of theCase Study Houses, ed.Elizabeth A.T. Smith,(Cambridge, 2002) 132

12.

Starr, 134

13.Steven A. Moore, Technology,Place, and the NonmodernThesis, in The Journal ofArchitectural Education, 53/4,(2001) 134.

6.

Joan Ockman with EdwardEigen, Architecture Culture1943-1968, (New York,2000) 107.


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to economic and material resources for construction. Te idea that technol-ogy is best understood through geography14 goes beyond the notion thatbuilding practices are simply a combination of climate, geographic influencesand available talent. Geography takes on a broader definition that encom-passes social, economic, cultural and technological factors of a given locality,as well as global influences. For Henri Lefebvre, the dynamic relationship oftechnology and place produced social spaces wherein technology acts uponnature.15 Such a discourse can extend the notion of the natural to the moreinclusive term ecology. By engaging the social realm, technology can be seenas essentially a spatial concept,16 with the uniqueness of each culturalcontext leading to the production of spaces with their own particularcharacter. Consequently, differing qualities of places and subsequentlyspecific architectural solutions are more a matter of technological practicesthan aesthetic choices.17 As has been pointed out in relation to Canadianarchitecture, design can be understood as responsive traces of vital culturalprocesses.18

Frederic Lasserres19 definition of modern architecture from the 1940sas a process of design moulded by practical, economic, technological, and

cultural function, but also as a process distinguished by the subjective dramaand excitement produced by the introduction of new forms and the associa-tion of new materials 20 is relevant to this argument. Lasserre perceived aconceptual shift in perception of form and space that anticipated a range ofcontemporary dynamic and flexible systems. Digital fabrication tools such asCNC beam processors, CNC routers, laser cutters and 3-D printers providea direct link between computer-aided modeling and physical form. Tese de-vices allow for the direct translation of conceptual models into built form andpromote evolution of practical aspects of traditional wood building methods.

Te innovative design at the center of this discussion allows develop-ment of culturally responsive designs and buildings that explore the dynamicpolarity between technology and culture, between economy and landscape.21Te resulting spatial organizations and formal expressions demonstrate an

evolving architecture rooted in complex ecologies.

OLIVER NEUMANN

14.

Moore, 134

15.

Henri Lefebvre, The Produc-tion of Space, (Oxford andMalden, 2001) 31+190.

16.

Steven A. Moore, Technology,Place, and the NonmodernThesis, The Journal ofArchitectural Education, 53/4,(2001):134.

17.

Moore, 134.

18.

Andrew Gruft, Introduction,in Substance over Spectacle:contemporary Canadianarchitecture, ed. Andrew Gruft,(Vancouver, 2005) 15

19.

Frederic Lasserre was thedirector of the School ofArchitecture at the Universityof British Columbia from 1946to 1961. As an architecteducated in Canada and Swit-zerland he was instrumentalfor the introduction of modernarchitecture in Vancouver.

20.

Windsor Liscombe, 30

21.

Arthur Kroker, Technologyand the Canadian Mind,(Montreal, 1996) 8.


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13FABRICATION / FABRICATED ECOLOGIES


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Material PerformanceCraft + Building

While timbers formed by natural growth retain a place in todays buildingindustry, monolithic sawn wood stocks are increasingly being replaced bycomposites, stranded and laminated components. New digital wood fabrica-tion methods promote environmentally responsible architecture and makecomplex timber structures more effi cient and affordable. Tis transformationis enabled by digital control systems coupled to automated fabrication anddirect manufacturing systems.

Moving beyond the replication of identical parts, new wood process-ing technologies challenge conventional notions of economies of scale thatassume mass production of unified, standardized building elements. Woodstructures are no longer limited to repetitive structures of equal parts andrepeated connection details. Tese new technologies offer components with

improved performance and result in designs that change the way wood isconceived. Moving beyond standardization, new geometries offer formal andspatial flexibility and adaptability.

44 Deform HouseTHOM FAULDERS

Beige Design

50 Solid Wood-Wall Cabin+ Outdoor Theater Roof StructureOLIVER NEUMANN


56 Time + Place The Politics of Designing with Wood

MICHAEL GREEN mcfarlaneGreen architecture + design

64 CorelamCHRISTIAN BLYT

GreenHus Design

68 Wood Wave Panel System BRIAN WOUDSTRA

StructureCraft Builders Inc

16 Ahmanson Founders Room The Music Center, Los Angeles

HAGY BELZBERG

Belzberg Architects22 BURST*003 Housing Prototype

DOUGLAS GAUTHIER

SYSTEMarchitects LLC

30 Mass Produced CustomizationOMER ARBEL

Omer Arbel Design Office

34 Niagara Credit Union at VirgilPHILIP BEESLEY


40 Canonbury CanopyMICHAEL STACEY

Michael Stacey ArchitectsUniversity of Nottingham


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Te Ahmanson Founders Room is a 2,500 ft2 addition buried in the first levelof subterranean parking at Te Music Center in downtown Los Angeles.Te sunken location of the room coupled with an almost clandestine preoccu-pation with exclusivity by the Centers founders helped to orient the designobjectives of the firm. We pursued the development of sensual lighting schemesand unique applications of material and texture to create a warm place ofrespite between the congested city streets and the brimming communal areas ofTe Music Center on event nights.

Most interesting for this exhibition is the marriage of two seeminglydichotomous components: computer generated means of development and

fabrication as well as the visceral predictions of affective architectural qualities,primarily light and warmth. Te design for the Ahmanson Founders Roomties together various architectural elements through a series of quantitativerelationships. Working primarily with the flat nature of wood panels, therewere simultaneous pursuits to develop three-dimensional textures from two-dimensional data as well as operational devices set in place to control onedata set through the functions of another.

While not contained within a single parametric model, certain piece-meal efforts to cross software applications yielded new insights into ways ofextracting information from various file types and data sets and into ways ofusing that information as input in alternate devices. Te versatility affordedby employing loosely attached systems of rigorous parametric relationships

stems from the inherent lack of limitations imposed by the use of a singlesoftware application. Te images created for the wall panels eschew thetranscendent, classical qualities of visual art in favour of exposing geometricentities which yield very blue collar information such as size, density andother more determinable data.

1Ahmanson Founders Room

Custom millwork furniture atlounge entry

Hagy Belzberg

Belzberg Architects

Ahmanson Founders RoomThe Music Center, Los Angeles

FUTUREWOOD


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18 BELZBERG ARCHITECTS

2Diagram

Morphological evolution of thecomponent pieces


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19AHMANSON FOUNDERS ROOM

3View of Lounge

Perforated wall panels beneaththe rippled ceiling canopy

4Entrance view

Ascending from parking garage


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5Lounge Seating

Spatial and material cohesion of the lounge and all of its components both spatially and materially

6 Entrance View

The Ahmanson Founders Room from the underground parking structure

BELZBERG ARCHITECTS


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Te two-dimensional diagram of the ceiling is the root modifier of sectionalprofiles and textures throughout the space. While subtle shifts in the line workof the ceiling diagram alter adjacent diagrams only slightly, parameters andoperators introduced at a finer level in the hierarchy of relationships furtherdisguise the results direct correlation with the base diagram.

Whatever the extent of differences between components of the finishedroom may be, there is a resounding aura of connectivity between texture, material,color and light. Te Founders Room design should be seen as an attempt to judge

objectively the ratio of cohesion between quantitative design techniques andthe overall architectural experience.

7Hinge Point

Ceiling surface folding down tobecome the wall separating thelounge and garage entrance

AHMANSON FOUNDERS ROOM


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In the unstable conditions of contemporary culture, there are a number ofarchitectural entities that come armed with ingenuity and imagination, ratherthan prescription or moral crises, and that are curious about ways to usepractice, energy and ecologies as means of re-conceiving the economies andaesthetics of building. System contributes to this culture: standing on theshoulders of our contemporaries to contribute significant ideas. Te practiceseeks to sideline traditional hierarchies, giving precedence to the negotiationsof the street, and produces work that privileges the way things work overthe way they look. Tis engagement necessitates a focus on spaces that aremulti-layered, overlapping, and intertwining; on systems consisting of vary-

ing constituencies, economies, and on environments that may be concrete orintangible. Te practice is fueled by a transformative energy which is also itsfoundation and may be summarized as the belief in theoretical and materialexperimentation and in a constant search for the innovation of the architectsrole in both building and culture. BURS* housing exists as a prototype on the east coast of Australia.It is a kit home in which each piece is pre-cut, numbered, delivered to site andassembled. BURS* provides an alternative to the mass-produced versionsof domestic life that reduce architecture to ever-expanding variations on thetrailer. Instead, this house suggests that an infinite array of expanding geom-etries and forms can engage our contemporary notions of domesticity andaddresses the need to negotiate between the multiple and disparate ideas thatdefine our environments.

Te house investigated here reconsiders the process of building thehouse, and uses computer technologies to expand the range of architecturalform for inexpensive domestic construction. With the aid of digital processes,the prototypes complex geometry and form can be responsive, both to natural

Douglas Gauthier

SYSTEMarchitects llc

BURST*003 Housing Prototype

FUTUREWOOD

1BURST*003 Housing

Axonometric diagramshowing assembly


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24 DOUGLAS GAUTHIER

forces on the site and to the program. Tis system produces a low-energ yhouse that uses construction materials and labor in a highly effi cient manner.

Te effi ciency of the BURS* prototype, which can be called its lightness,reflects the connected human, community and world conditions embodiedin this house. Te house has the appearance of lightness in terms of weightand color and it engages a mode of living that is light or effi cient and concen-trated on use, not excess. Te personal spaces are compact and effi cient, usingall windows and vents instrumentally to provide necessary light and aid inclimate control. Te sleeping areas are quiet with low and soft illuminationfrom the clerestory above and the vents to the rear allow for the flow of airthrough the sleeping spaces. Te undercroft of the house provides an entirelyfunctional secondary space that may be used as a play space in the rain, astorage space or a welcome area when arriving at the house.In occupying the lot, the house is thoughtful in its orientation, consideringsun, wind and humidity in order that these conditions add to the productivityof the house, rather than remain insignificant. Trough a series of carefullyplanned slits and gaps, light and air enter the house, providing necessary condi-tions for living and sleeping. Globally, the house occupies this same model of

lightness in material, weight and waste. Te plywood that supports and enclosesthe house is light-weight and partially recycled. Te laser cutter allows for thewood to be cut so effi ciently that the scrap is reduced to a minimum (5% unused).

2Daylighting strategies

Existing paradigms ofprefabrication have their limits.This means that social statusand stigma and a less thaninnocent history are bound intoa container, trailer or mobilehome technologies. The systeminvestigated here rethinks theprocess of building the homebefore the idea of home isladen with the image of home.


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Te BURS* project also exemplifies a new spatial relationship betweeninside and outside and successfully spatializes the outdoors. Te deliberateoverlaps, gaps and slits within the buildings skin lead ones eye obliquely tocapture the surrounding landscape, effectively interiorizing the exterior. Tehuman figure moves within, over and under the folded skin, ambiguouslyoccupying inside and outside. Te ribs that serve as the support system ofthe house flow from inside to outside, blurring the distinction between inand out, in the manner ofchiaroscuro in Renaissance painting. Te changingdepth of the ribs subtly orders the space along the changing grid, serving asa marker of both structure and program and lending what has been called agothic condition of laciness. Each point of rib overlap has a light fixture witha single chrome-dome bulb that reinforces the patterning and order of varia-tion embedded in the structure of the house.

Te geometry of the house is generated and controlled by intentionallyconfigured sections. Using different performative and manipulatable means,each section is made to balance the relationship between the interior program,exterior conditions and environmental parameters. Te sections operate likethe foci of an ellipse and are the control points of the overall form of the house.

However, they do not exist as distinct moments for the house to be experiencedseparately, but rather flow and pause and disappear into the overall structure.Te design process is thus a choreography of conditions and constitutesan evolution beyond the compositional or funtionalist/aylorist conditionsof Modernism.

BURST*003 HOUSING PROTOTYPE

3Rib system

Diagram showing formationand variation of changing ribstructure


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While it is wholly considered and carefully effi cient, the design ofBURS*leaves room for a human and intuitive condition. Certainly assigning thicknessto the choreographed massing requires not only structural consideration,but it is also a responsive responsive process. Tere is an absence of measure-ment on the job site since all pieces arrive on site measured. Assemblingthem requires not only the numerical precision of a jigsaw puzzle but alsothe intuition of look and feel. Inasmuch as George Hersey makes clear theBaroques sense of effi ciency and use of symmetry, responsive architecturalmethods are, in fact, the essence of effi ciency and in direct opposition tocommercial cultures reductive reading of Modernism. In this construct, thecontrol given to the builder is reduced and replaced by digital processes thatallow for a level of control that choreographs the making as well as the form.

When these accounts of intentionality-driven space are geometricallyreconfigured, the resulting form produces an infinite collection of changingsections. Te space of the house thus exists in a constant negotiation betweenone section and another; the space is derived, not mandated. Life indoors islived between these possibilities, always in a state of becoming.

BURS*.003 was completed in 2005 and is being developed into a

responsive parametric housing system that is earthquake, hurricane and floodresistant. SYSEM is developing patent applications for the project includingX-Clip mechanisms, delivery systems as well as the environmental, structuraland programmatic parameters. Tis would allow the self-similar engineeredproject to respond to other climates, sites and programs. Tus, the project is notsimply a single unit, but becomes a range of solutions.

4Design Model

View from west


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6 North Elevation

7Single-level plan


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28 DOUGLAS GAUTHIER

8Variations of housing assembly

9X-Clip mechanisms

10Construction process

Column pouring


Interior partitions


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29BURST*003 HOUSING PROTOTYPE


Assembly of prefabricated wood elements

13Finished construction

Entry sequence

14Completed housing prototype

Finished structure with facade treatment: south-facing elevation


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wo projects in the prototype stage illustrate new customization possibilitiesin high-end manufacturing. People are tired of duplicated objects (regardlessof how exquisite they may be) and crave the possibility of customization asa way of giving meaning to objects. Even low tech CNC or molded plywoodtechnology, if applied creatively, can be set up to produce items that differfrom each other in every iteration within the same production run, withoutcompromising effi cient industrial production protocol. As a parameter foran industrial design exploration, this sensibility results in the emergence offascinating formal possibilities.

The 1.1 shelf

Designed by Omer Arbel in 2003. Produced by Some Furniture in small batches

2003-2005. Finalist, D&AD Yellow Pencil Award.

Te 1.1 shelfwas designed designed by Omer Arbel in 2003 and producedby Some Furniture in small batches between 2003 and 2005. Te designwas a finalist for the D&AD Yellow Pencil Award. Te 1.1 shelfis a stor-age system which differs in size and configuration in each instance of itsproduction. It is designed to be mounted in one of two ways; against a wall,in which case the 4 offset allows book spines in the back row to be visiblebehind those in the front row, or freestanding in a room, in which case bookspines are accessible from both sides of the shelf.

It is composed of two simple modular units designed to be cut on astandard two axis CNC machine: a horizontal module (9x 9x 1 plywoodwith a 1 x 9 x 1/4 depression) and a vertical module (14 x 9 x 1 ply-wood). A client specifies the total wall area. An algorithm applies a set of

Omer ArbelOmer Arbel Design Office

Mass Produced Customization

FUTUREWOOD

1The 1.1 shelf

Front view


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33MASS PRODUCED CUSTOMIZATION

34.0 Screen

Extended and folded configuration


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Te new banking centre of the Niagara Credit Union at Virgil stands ona site that acts as the gateway to the old town of Niagara-on-the-Lake,Ontario, while fronting a new suburban development. A key requirementof the project was to conserve the historic character of the area and enhancethe fragile balance of surrounding agricultural lands, all the while accom-modating the towns wish for new development and strong commerce.Te architects were invited to consider practical questions about authentic-ity and substancehow could enduring, rooted qualities be achieved usinglightweight commercial construction?

Te project team pursued hybrid qualities. Key design strategies used

a minimum of material while offering an experience of depth. A lightweightstructural system employing a hovering basketwork canopy of interlink-ing laminated and stranded-timber members was developed for the publicspaces. Tese elements link arms to form a lightweight structural meshworksupporting the main roof and extending outward to the exterior. all, branch-ing timber columns support this structure. A massive column type wasconceived using exposed glue-laminated young-growth softwood lumbergrouped in offset cruciform bundles. Repeating arrays of these columnsframed the main hall and stood as a series of open groves around the exterior.Te columns frame the heart of the buildinga light-filled great hall.A front veranda populated by fields of exterior columns running along outdoorwalkways give shade and create a streetscape that encourages interaction

with the public. Reinforcing this skeleton, thin skins of ledgerock and lime-stone were manipulated in order to present a topography of elongated,folded planes. Tese surfaces extend the thickness of enclosing walls.

1Niagara Credit Union

View of main hall with pergolain foreground and drive-through canopy behind

Philip Beesley


Niagara Credit Union at Virgil

FUTUREWOOD


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36 PHILIP BEESLEY

2 Niagara Credit Union

Cruciform glue-laminated columns in exterior pergola; main hall framing visible behind


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Te massive ceiling of the central hall is composed of clusters of thinvertical vanes of stained spruce, creating a darkened lining whose depth playsagainst the sun-filled space within. Te meshwork created by the linkedupper branches of the column system in the main hall, together withslatted shades supported by the outer veranda structures, make a filterthat modulates direct light. Te structure employs engineered wood trussesfor framing the main plenum integrated with light steel bracing and frameddecking for outlying spaces.

Te interior acts as a convivial town square lined by a variety of servicesand amenities. Reinforcing personal relationships with members of theCredit Union, the offi ces of personal financial advisors, commercial offi cersand banking assistants all look directly into the space. On the second level,glass-fronted spaces for professional offi ces overlook the hall.

Te new building stands close to the edge of Virgils major street,reinforcing pedestrian footpaths. imber veranda shelters provide a nearlycontinuous perimeter to the facility, supporting exterior parking, drive-inbanking and service-entry circulation. Tis site design invites future develop-ments in the town to join in a close-knit main street approach, restoring alively community of shop fronts that used to relate to the sidewalk. Parking isintegrated in a tartan-grid of planted areas lying behind the main street edge.Te approach contrasts with large highway-scale setbacks that have charac-terized the recent development along this arterial.

NIAGARA CREDIT UNION AT VIRGIL

3Concept Rendering

Glue-laminated columns andceiling treatment consisting ofthin vertical vanes of stainedspruce


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38 PHILIP BEESLEY


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39NIAGARA CREDIT UNION AT VIRGIL

7Detail view

Final installation of columnsand integration into ceilingtreatment

4 Front elevation

Entrance canopy view fromstreet

5 Great hall at night

Exterior view from parkingarea, left (below)

6Great hallFramed view of landscapebeyond


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41

Schools or departments of Architecture have an enormous and underusedpotential for engaging with industry and professional practice and for workingdirectly with their regions and local communities. Tis project, a canopy fora local primary school in the London Borough of Islington, was an indirectproduct of a Summer School held at the Department of Architecture andSpatial Design, London Metropolitan University. Canonbury School, a lo-cal primary school built in the late nineteenth century, needed an outdoorclassroom for 4 to 5 year old pupils to enable their full teaching curriculumto be undertaken outdoors. Te purpose of the canopy is to shelter childrenfrom the sun as well as the rain. Te shelter also supports part of the schools

sustainable transport policy encouraging parents and children to walk or cycleto school. Second year architecture students consulted with governors, teach-ers, children and school keepers a wide range of designs were discussed andthe priorities of the pupils and teachers did not necessarily match.

Te final design is collaboration between the students, Michael StaceyArchitects, tutors, clients and end users, ably facilitated by structural engineerim Lucas of Price and Myers 3D Engineering. Te design comprised threesemi-monocoque units prefabricated in the department and transportedto site. Te semi-monocoque units, measuring 1.2 by 5.8 meters overall,comprise bulk heads on 18mm ply with two skins of 12mm ply. Te birchveneer ply was sourced from a certified and managed forest in Eastern Europe.imber merchants James Latham sponsored the supply of the ply. Te canopy

cantilevers in all directions and the cantilever measures 3.6 meters to the front.Te canopy is located to gain maximum benefit from the existing brick wall.

Michael Stacey

University of Nottingham

Canonbury Canopy

FUTUREWOOD

1 Canonbury Canopy

A new outdoor classroom forCanonbury Primary School,Islington, London


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42

Michael Stacey Architects in conjunction with London MetropolitanUniversity took on the role of Architect, Project Manager, Main Contactorand Specialist Subcontractor for the joinery. rade contractors installed con-crete foundations, steel columns and the single ply dark grey PVC waterproofmembrane. Te students and staff fabricated the plywood units. Te designwas transferred from Microstation to the plywood using full-scale templatesthat enabled the curved profile to be accurately and consistently achieved. Testeelworker, Michael Wilson, proved invaluable onsite, lending his experienceto the enthusiastic architecture students. His assistance was essential as thesteelwork and the plywood units work together to form one structure, whichdepends on very tight tolerances. Te canopy was completed by the applica-tion of a single ply waterproof membrane and simply detailed, translucent,polycarbonate roof lights. Te canopy has been designed as a permanentstructure that can be readily maintained by the school keeper. Te physicalexcitement of realising the canopy proved to be a unique learning experi-ence for those involved, providing a respect for artisans and a confidence inthe students own decision making, which hopefully will remain with themthroughout their careers. Te school children now enjoy the shelter of the

canopy, confident in their own imaginations.

MICHAEL STACEY

2Transporting the units

The first unit leaving LondonMetropolitan University. On alow budget, a small truck wasused to deliver the units to site.

3Fabrication of units

Students and staff assemblingthe semi-monocoque modularunits in the courtyard of LondonMetropolitan University


The canopy was designed tobe assembled without the useof a crane


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43CANONBURY CANOPY

5 Construction process

The central module wasthe first to be bolted to thegalvanized steel posts


The outer canopy modulescantilever from the steelwork,which meant tolerances had tobe very tightly controlled

7Completed canopy

The reception class enjoyingtheir new outdoor classroom,which is used to teach a fullcurriculum, from reading torole-play


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45

In this 3rd floor addition to a house in San Francisco, CA, completed in2006, the program requires that most new walls remain devoid of architec-tural detail in order to maximize available surface areas for the ownersvast art collection. Terefore, the viable area for design investigation isthe ceiling plane.

A geometric pattern has been invented that visually deforms the ceilingplane producing a shifting presence of valleys and bulges. Designed to sheathethe entire top floor, this lining unifies the spaces with constantly alternatingfigurations that emerge in time as the viewer passes through the spaces.

Rather than pre-establishing heightened zones of deformation, ourefforts focused on providing a random distribution of l ines that, whenviewed from different vantage points, would create alignments between themeandering lines. Defined by a set of algorithmic rules, each ceiling plank isindividually cut using digital milling tools, in collaboration with the Oakland-based Studio SUM. As the viewer passes through the spaces, the ceilingpattern appears to realign at all times, making the viewers presence in spacethe central motivation of the project.

Thom Faulders

Beige Design

Deform House

FUTUREWOOD

1 Deform House

View of finished interior


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46 THOM FAULDERS

3 Exploded axonometric

Diagram identifying placementand relationship betweenarchitectural elements

2Interior view

Digital rendering


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47DEFORM HOUSE

4Front view

The visible geometric patternillustrates the connectionbetween private and publicspace

5Interior view

Showing the juxtaposition ofthe blank walls housing theart collection with the visuallydeforming pattern of theceiling plane


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48 THOM FAULDERS

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6 Line pattern development

Diagram illustrating thegeneration of the deformationpattern

7Materials

MDF custom cut boards8Skylight detail

Digital rendering


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49DEFORM HOUSE

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9Ceiling plan

Installation layout

11Finished ceiling

close-up view

10Installation view

View of unfinished ceiling


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51

Te cabin design is based on research into the spatial and environmentalimplications of solid wood-wall panel construction methods. Materialcharacteristics, environmental performance and spatial configurationsparticular to solid wood-wall construction are explored in the context of theBritish Columbia building culture and the particular economic and environ-mental conditions of the region.

Te cabin design utilizes the solid wood-wall panels structural andspatial potential within the context of a design that is particular to its camp-

ground context at the UBC Research Forest. Despite the larger volumenecessary to accommodate the program of the extended cabin, the placementand configuration of the compact design are intended to maintain thecharacter of the site.

Te existing cabins are characterized by their simplicity, basic configura-tion and casual relationship to the site. Te cabins are built as compact 1 1/2

story volumes with limited openings. Te basic volumetric development isreflected in the simple programmatic organization of the interior. Privilegingtheir function as shelters and sleeping houses, no clear reference to view ismade in the cabins orientation and inner configuration. Rather than promot-ing views from the cabin interior, the placement of the cabin as part of thecampground ensemble allows for views and for exposure to the surroundinglandscape from the building exterior.

Te new cabin design uses continuous 3-dimensional bands of solidwood-wall panels to configure the cabins in plan and volume. Tese systemsof parallel panel bands form building sections incorporating exterior walls,roof surfaces, floors and stairs. Offsets in plan and section control the

Oliver Neumann


Solid-Wood-Wall Cabin

Solid Wood-Wall Cabin+ Outdoor Theater Roof Structure

FUTUREWOOD

1Outdoor Theatre

Roof Structure

Concept rendering

2Solid-Wood-Wall Cabin

Concept rendering ofmain facade


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52 OLIVER NEUMANN

building orientation, sun exposure and views. Te volume of the new cabin isvisually disconnected from the ground and openings are limited to maintainthe basic appearance. Te interior configuration reflects the basic program ofthe cabin with private bedrooms and small communal spaces.

Te spatial and structural configuration, with its cross-sectional bandsof solid wood-wall panels, results in opaque east and west faades; infillpanels at the short ends and in setbacks of the cabin volume provideopenings for natural light and ventillation. Rather than responding to viewsinto the surrounding landscape, these openings and the room orientationsfollow the configuration of the basic program. Faades are designed todownplay the required size of the new cabin and its significantly increasedprogram. Te building volume is oriented to allow for southern exposure ofthe group spaces and related passive solar gain while the placement of thecabin away from the berm protects existing trees and groundcover charac-teristic of the forested context. Individual bedrooms are designed as sleepingquarters with limited views of the surroundings to privilege the use of groupspaces and to foreground outdoor experiences at the camp.

Te solid wood-wall cabin at the UBC Research Forest is a collabo-

ration of the UBC Malcolm Knapp Research Forest, the HundeggerMaschinenbau GmbH based in Hawangen, Germany, the UBC Schoolof Architecture and Landscape Architecture and the UBC Centre forAdvanced Wood Processing. Te design research is funded by UBCResearch Forest and supported by Hans Hundegger Maschinenbau GmbH,Hawangen, Germany.

3Spatial diagram of cabin

Isometric projection

4Cabin facade

Main elevation

5Panel transportation


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53SOLID WOOD-WALL CABIN

6Panel assembly

7Panel fabrication


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54 OLIVER NEUMANN

Outdoor Theater Roof Structure

Te Outdoor Teatre roof structure project explores digital fabrication tech-nology to generate designs consistent with the conditions of the place of theirintervention. CNC timber framing software and CNC fabrication technol-ogy are utilized for the design of a material-effi cient wooden roof structurethat meets the requirements of the local program and site while investigatingthe potential of globally available digital fabrication technologies.

CNC fabrication technologies can produce new spatial and materialexpressions consistent with the notion of complex environments. Given

the capacity to create ever-smaller building modules and spatially complexbuilding components effi ciently, CNC-fabricated wood building elementscan be designed to meet the specific and changing requirements of individualbuilding projects without sacrificing effi ciency of material use and assembly.Te flexibility and adjustability of CNC fabrication processes allow for aneffi cient application of mass-customization technologies to the explorationof formal and spatial conditions that correspond to contemporary ideas ofcomplexity and to the openness, individuality and self-expression of contem-porary living conditions. With their inherently sustainable and economicalcharacteristics, contemporary wood products, fabrication and productionmethods can be used to generate site-specific designs. While the architecturegenerated using contemporary CNC timber framing technology benefitsfrom the importation of European timber framing techniques and detail-ing, the technology is not limited to revisiting familiar wood structures andtraditional joinery. Rather, contemporary fabrication technology provides abasis for design explorations specific to the economic and cultural contextof regional ecologies.

8Truss study

9Side view

Side view of roof structure atExisting Outdoor Theatre

10Full-scale joint study


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55OUTDOOR THEATER ROOF STRUCTURE

Te Outdoor Teater roof structure is rooted equally in its local condi-tions and larger ecological processes. While the design aims to satisfy thespecific needs of program, climate and locale, the project equally considersa scale beyond its immediate site and context of intervention by referencingcomplex processes that influence and are affected by the design.

Te roof design takes large scale CNC fabrication technologies as astarting point for innovative wood construction methods. Te broader aim isto promote sustainable wood building designs through effi ciency of materialand assembly. Te light-weight structure with wood-to-wood connectionsis assembled from short 2 x 4 wood sections into a 25 x 35 roof that issuspended from existing columns. Corrugated translucent panels protectthe stage area of the theater from rain and snow while allowing sunlight andshadows from the surrounding trees to animate the wood structure. Tedesign is developed from preliminary studies of a non-hierarchical spacetruss system. Later iterations reflect the wood joints capacity to accommo-date compression-based load conditions. A perforated plywood diaphragmprovides rotational stability.

In addition to considerations of fabrication and construction, the design

introduces a scale independent of the size and resolution of the wood struc-ture. While the structural logic of the wood structure responds equally to theforces in the roof and to the orientation of the stage towards the audience,the oversize leaf pattern of the plywood diaphragm introduces imagery thatpoints beyond the scale of the particular intervention and its forested context.

11Plywood diaphragm

Illustration of oversize leafpattern used to relate thestructure to its surroundingcontext

12Concept rendering

Front View

13Study Model

Preliminary Roof Design


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57

McfarlaneGreens new terminal for the Ottawa airport explores the politicsof selecting timber in large public buildings. Te design illustrates how theacceptance of public timber structures across Canada is evolving and howmanaging the political process within client, stakeholder and design teamsis critical to the successful use of what is arguably Canadas most approp-riate building material.

Te design, which was completed in 2003, introduced timber in amajor public building while searching for a new approach to the functionalplanning of an airport terminal. Te proposed layout radically changed thesectional properties of the traditional airport by opening up the center of the

building. Tis enhanced overall passenger orientation and the experience onarrivals and departures.

On any given project, there is a limited pool of political capital that thedesign team can expend to promote an innovative agenda. In the case ofthe policy- and politically-charged airport design, timber was generally notconsidered for three fundamental reasons:

1. Sustainable design was still a new concept in mainstream easternCanadian design.

2. Misconceptions regarding the cost of wood structures. Hybridwood and steel systems were generally not considered as cost-effective and elegant solutions.

3. Given the general lack of experience, engineering offi ces do notsupport heavy timber design.

Michael Green

mcfarlaneGreen architecture + design

Time + PlaceThe politics of designing with wood

FUTUREWOOD

1Prince George Airport

Phase I

Custom casting


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58

Te earlier Prince George Airport had been an exception to this reticence;from the outset, the client insisted on the importance of wood in the designof the terminal building. In a climate of increasing steel prices, a timberstructure proved to be the most economical sollution for the design. Byintroducing new wood building technology in the design of the public build-ing, the design of the new terminal at Prince George Airport highlights thesignificance of wood building culture in northern British Columbia.

In 2005, the project for the expansion of the Ottawa airport providedanother opportunity to test timber in a public building. For this project,timber from a decrepit pre-World War II aircraft hangar on the OttawaAirportconsisting of mainly first growth BC fir in large member sizeswas made available for reuse. Te reclaimed timber was incorporated intoa 200 meter long and 9 meter high exterior glass wall that encloses rampsleading passengers to their gates. Te project is currently under constructionand will be partially occupied in 2007 and completed in 2008.

MICHAEL GREEN

2Ottawa Airport Phase I

Steel roof trusses

3 Ottawa Airport Phase I

Truss model

4Ottawa Airport Phase I

Timber/steel structural study


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59TIME + PLACE

Te Ottawa Airport benefited from the precedent set in Prince Georgefor timbers aesthetic merit and economy. With the increasing importanceand public acceptance of sustainable design, the concept of reusing timberfrom the hangar became a point of pride for the client and the community.After initial problems with refurbishing the recycled material locally could beovercome, the reuse of resources from the airport property was consideredexciting and appropriate in 2005 both as an iconic building and a celebrationof wood design. Although the reclaimed wood originated in BC, the choiceof timber was linked to the notion of national unity and ecological stability.Te use of wood has now become a matter of pride and a statement about

the airports projection of a responsible corporate citizen. Te use of woodoffered a solution for creating a warm, welcoming environment that had notfully been realized in the steel structure of the phase one terminal design thatwas completed in 2003, a time when timber use was met less favorably bythe interested parties.


Phase I

Column/Beam detail


Phase I

Departure lounge airfieldelevation


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60 MICHAEL GREEN


Phase II

Arrivals area


Phase II

Column mock-up


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61TIME + PLACE


Phase II

Atrium detail


Phase II

Atrium


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62 MICHAEL GREEN

11Prince George Airport Phase II

Existing wood to be reclaimed from the Airport Hanger

12 Prince George Airport Phase II

Atrium model


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65

Tis paper describes major objectives in the development ofCorelam1

, anall-wood corrugated plywood product that is currently in its final stage ofdevelopment. Te initial work was presented as Christian Blyts mastersthesis at the Faculty of Interior Architecture and Furniture Design at theUniversity of Industrial Arts in Helsinki, Finland.

Early applications of the material focused on small-scale use as acomponent in a variety of home furnishing items. Subsequent develop-ments explored the materials potential for high-end building applications,particularly wall and ceiling panels. Parallel to the development of materialproperties, initial research also investigated possible end products. A second

development phase, currently under way, includes the design of a prototypepress to allow for the systematic testing of the final variables in the manufac-turing process. Tese include evaluation of temperature, sequencing, moisture,alternative processes, adhesives, veneers, and core woods. In addition, anintegrated mounting and detailing systems will allow for testing the materialsfire rating, acoustic qualities and durability.

The Beginning of Corelam

Te initial development ofCorelam at the University of Industrial Arts,Helsinki was conducted in 1994. Te thesis work encompassed the theoreticaland applied process of laminating the corrugated plywood, the developmentof all tooling necessary to achieve 60 x 240 cm sheets of varying thicknesses

and species and the production of prototypes that showcased the materialsintrinsic attributes.

In its present development stage, the material consists of at least threelayers of wooden veneer that are laminated together with the aid of a thermal

Christian Blyt

GreenHus Design

Corelam

FUTUREWOOD

1Lampshades

Up and Downs Productionslampshades constructedof 2 ply Corelam at ICFFNew York 2000

1.Corelam is a registeredtrademark by Christian Blytof GreenHus Design


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66 CHRISTIAN BLYT

bonding adhesive into different radii and profiles. At least one layer inthe pile has its grains running perpendicular to the other two layers toprovide structural and dimensional stability. In order to compensate forthe differently bending radii of the individual layers of veneer, tensionedbacking sheets on both sides of the pile permit the layers of the veneersto move with low friction, relative to each other, avoiding fracturing. Temanufacturing method results in a rigid, thermally-set, undulated form.

Initial Product Development

Te initial commercialization ofCorelam took place from 1997 until 2002.At that time, a 24 x 24 cold press was constructed and used to producefinished panels. Te panels were successfully featured in a variety of products.

Final Development and Testing

Te primary objectives of this project are to design and specify a heated,semi-automated pilot press and a cost-effective manufacturing process

capable of producing 32 x 32 size sheet. Particular attention will be given tonon-formaldehyde adhesive films and clear melamine overlays. Anothercritical component will be to design, fabricate and field test an integratedmounting and detailing system for the panels, which is essential to thecommercial viability of the product. Cost data will be collected throughoutthe project in order to allow for an accurate determination of the costs ofproducing various options. Final selection of product characteristics will bebased on performance and cost.

2

Te advantages ofCorelam include its aesthetic properties, its strengthversus weight ratio, its potential to provide acoustic damping, its versatil-ity, its use of under-utilized wood species, its high standard of safety for allapplications due to the absence of chemical irritants in the manufacturingprocess and its potential as a structural material.

2.

Blyt, C. 1999 Method ofproducing a corrugatedconstruction unit US patent5,948,198

4Ceiling panel

perforated Corelam

2Manufacturing method

Pressing sequence initiatesin the center of the pilewith the first undulationindividually pressed andclamped into place

3Door section

showcasing Corelam indifferent applications


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67CORELAM

5Pilot pressConcept CAD drawing - 2005

6Veneer press

Standard press with attached 60 x 240 cm metal platens and tooling


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69

StructureCraft Builders Inc.s focus on innovative and cost-effective aestheticstructural sollutions using wood is facilitated by the application digital mediaand fabrication methods. Structural engineering design, shop fabricationand preparation for site installation benefit equally from the development ofa detailed 3D model. Despite their geometric complexity, StructureCraftsprojects are developed as pre-fabricated kits of parts to allow forshort erection times.

Parametric modeling and digital fabrication techniques have helped tocustomize, fabricate and install the roof deck system of the wood wave rooffor the facility of the skating events for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

Te Richmond Oval Wood Wave Panel System consists of 452 panelscovering an area that measures over 200,000 square feet, with approximately1300 arched Vees made up of 2x4 lumber, plywood and steel tie-rods.Te panel geometry varies throughout the roof. Te project benefits from avariety of parametric modeling and digital wood fabrication features. In thedesign phase, 3D conceptual models and rendered 3D models of the roofassembly were used to produce various scenarios that facilitated the form-finding process. Te 3D data was also used to generate structural engineeringmodels of the roof assembly.

During the subsequent detailing phase, all components (including archedlumber, splices, bulkheads, plywood skin, tension ties and connections) weremodeled in 3D. Assembly drawings for architectural and structural review

and revisions as well as shop drawings of the wood wave panel assemblieswere generated from the same 3D model of the structure. In the fabricationphase, the information from the 3D model will be used to generate machinedata that can be transferred to the wood splice-block and strand productionstations. Files for the CNC production of plywood bulkheads will also begenerated.

Brian Woudstra

Wood Wave Panel System

FUTUREWOOD

StructureCraft Builders Inc.

1Richmond Oval Arena

Underside of arched lumberforms the ceiling of arenafor the 2010 Olympic WinterGames


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70 STRUCTURECRAFT

2Design model

Wood Wave Panels spanningbetween main arches of Oval

3Isolated panel

Design rendering of singularWood Wave panel

4Production

Digitally-controlled nailers forlumber strand production


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71WOOD WAVE PANEL SYSTEM

6 Full-size panel

Ready for structural testing

5Prototype panel

Assembled in shop


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Digital PracticeOperations + Logics

Digital media and fabrication technologies put forward affordable, effi cientstrategies that support exploration of complex new geometries. New toolsfor parametric design and building information modeling offer substantialnew qualities to design practice. Generative scripting and form-finding opti-mization processes are increasingly integrated into standard arrays of designtools. Dynamic models offer a degree of flexibility and coordination neverpreviously available. Complex orchestration of dependencies and constraintsfor individual elements allows detailed development of component arrayscontaining highly specialized individual conditions.

An increasing emulation of systems observed in biology and physicalsciences is discernable within many of the projects illustrated here. Tiscapacity for dynamic processes coincides with a paradigmatic shift offered

by information technologies. As systems that readily accommodate customfeatures, digitally mediated design processes challenge conventional notionsof economies of scale and afford designers and builders a new formaland spatial vocabulary.

74 Responsive Surface StructureACHIM MENGES

Academy of Art and Design, OffenbachAA School of Architecture, London

80 The Dry-in House

DOUGLAS HECKERMARTHA SKINNERfieldoffice

Clemson University

86 Digitally Integrated Design/BuildMARTY DOSCHER

morphosis

94 Tailors after TaylorismKARL DAUBMANN

Ply ArchitectureUniversity of Michigan

102 Fast Construction: Slow ArchitectureMICHAEL STACEY

Michael Stacey Architects University of Nottingham

108 Stock SpaceSHANE WILLIAMSON

WilliamsonWilliamsonUniversity of Toronto

114 Building C ontinuous Digital PlanningProcesses on Timber InfrastructureCHRISTOPH SCHINDLER

designtoproduction


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Te project Responsive Surface Structure is based on an experimental,inductive design approach and has been developed at the department ofForm Generation and Materialisation at the University of Art and Design inOffenbach, Germany.

Te project aims to create a differentiated skin structure that can changeits porosity in response to changes in ambient humidity and moisture. Tusthe project instrumentalizes the moisture absorbing properties of wood andthe related surface expansion as a means of embedding climate sensor,actuator and regulating elements into one very simple component. Onetypical example of various biological systems operating on the principle of

surface changes that result from differential expansion is the pine cone. Teshape and materiality of the cone are synthesized in such a way that everycone element is at once the sensing, kinetic and regulating element. Onceit has fallen off the tree, the dry cone awaits a suitably moist condition.When this is found, the desiccated material of the cone opens and the seedsare released. What is particularly interesting is that, due to the fact that itsbehavioural response is latent in the material, this system works without anycontact with the tree and the opening and closure can be repeated in a largenumber of cycles.

In the Responsive Surface Structure project, the complex structure resultsfrom the continuous evolution of small, initially simple components. Teindividual functionality resulting from the interrelation of form, material andstructure of each scale is embedded in this decentralised system. Te moisture

responsive element is articulated as a veneer composite that is attached to theload-bearing, folded substructure. Tis process can be simulated by a verythin veneer moistened from one side. With exposure to a high level ofhumidity, the veneer swells and the consequent expansion triggers a defor-mation that opens a gap between the substructure and the veneer scales.

Achim MengesAcademy of Art and Design, Offenbach GermanyAA School of Architecture, London UK

Responsive Surface Structure

FUTUREWOOD

1Fir cone

Left: Cone in dry stateRight: Cone in moistened state


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76 ACHIM MENGES

With the aid of digital tools that are driven through associative geometryand parametric modeling, the mathematically-defined surfaces are construct-ed as a variable 3D model which can unfold in a wide range of shapes thatrelate to the different local, regional and global geometry of the system. Tesealterations are fundamental for a design process that is constantly adapting

and negotiating the digital components according to environmental factors.Te project aims at constructing a differentiated structure, referring to theprinciple of the pine cone with its differentiated scales while maintainingcoherence in the set-up and fabrication of all individual surface elements.Tus, every component of the structure is based on the manufacturing con-straints of a folded sheet digitally cut from planar material. Evolution of thedesign depends on the definition of this systems internal as well as externalconstraints and on information such as the aforementioned manufacturingpossibilities and specific material properties, which are all integrated into thedesign process from the beginning.

Te overall geometry is associative and hierarchically subordinated tothe normal direction embedded in the local coordinate systems of the overall,

mathematically-defined surface. In a subsequent step, the component isdistributed over this parametric surface and accordingly adjusts all its indi-vidual shapes and orientations to the curvature of that surface. As a result,every element of the structure has unique dimensions, yet it is fully definedthrough its geometric associations and related constraints. Te development

2Beech veneer

Test piece of veneer(left) and the same piecemoistened (right)

3Component model

The static componentstructure made out of PVC isclad with a moisture sensitivelayer of veneer. The veneeremployed has the specialability of changing shape byreacting to moisture and thusenables the system to interactwith its environment withoutbeing controlled by electronicor mechanical divided.


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77RESPONSIVE SURFACE STRUCTURE

4Parametric host surface

5Population of components


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78 ACHIM MENGES

of a differentiated structure that is mainly derived from a number of complexand nonlinear relations, ranging from material behaviour to the thermody-namics of the environment, requires an adaptive design approach. Using theversatility of parametric design tools allows for the set-up of a design evolu-tion in which changes to the system can be made at a ll times because boththe three-dimensional structure as well as the related cut pattern of eachindividual component automatically adapt to changes in the overall systemand vice versa. Finally, this parametric substructure, built up from individualcomponents, is clad with a moisture sensitive layer of veneer composite. Teveneer composite developed and employed here is uniquely able to changeshapes by reacting to ambient humidity and moisture and thus enables thesystem to interact with its environment without being controlled by electron-

ic or mechanical devices. Changes in ambient humidity facilitate the openingand closure of the components resulting in different degrees of porosityacross the surface. It is a structure and a performative skin in one.

6Digital production patterns

7Manufacturing


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Te components resulting from the digital design process can be directlymanufactured with digital fabrication processes and do not require compli-cated construction plans; every piece is assembled in a similar way and onlyfits its unique position within the predefined construction procedure.

At the moment, the research project has advanced to the point of a fullyfunctional prototype structure in live scale.

RESPONSIVE SURFACE STRUCTURE

8Model making

9Manufacturing

10Manufacturing


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Te Dry-in House is a mass customized affordable housing system proposedfor the reconstruction efforts in New Orleans following HurricaneKatrina. Te Dry-in House is designed to get families back to their homesites quickly by providing the infrastructure that occupants need (shelter,water, electricity) while at the same time providing the opportunity for eachof the returning families to customize their new home. Te project addressesineffi ciencies and redundancies in emergency housing currently provided byFEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency). It is designed to meet the$60,000 cost of the currently standard-issue, and notorious, FEMA trailer,

but improves upon the FEMA design by providing a solution which:

is permanent rather than temporary. Te house can be finished andfurther customized over time rather than disposed of.

reoccupies the owners home site rather than a FEMA ghetto, therebybringing the community back together and functioning.

is mass customized rather than mass-standardized allowing theowner input into the design of their home. Te design is a starterhome rather than an inflexible and over-determined one-size-fits-allsolution. Tis also has the benefit of giving variation to the reconstruction of New Orleans as opposed to the monotony of mass production.

allows the owners to customize their home further over time with

additional exterior finishes and the subdivision and outfit of theinterior.

Douglas Hecker

Martha Skinner

The Dry-in House

fieldoffice

FUTUREWOOD

1Collective spirit

The concentrations ofreturning families promotea greater collective spiritamong the community. Theconstruction process is akin toa barn raising, making possiblethe drying-in of multiplehouses in less than one day.


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Te Dry-in House is sympathetic to contemporary trends in the manufac-ture of consumer products that use automated platforms to provide greaterpersonalization. Te design proposes a system that, once it is in place withall constraints determined, will provide a degree of design input on the partof the owner that is currently unavailable in affordable housing in the UnitedStates. Te design seeks to give the owner opportunities for maximumcustomization with minimal intervention of the designer.1 Te outcome isthe designed interaction of the owner and a contemporary rapid manufactur-ing platform, much like Droog Designs Signature Vase and Issey MiyakesAPOC (A Piece Of Cloth) clothing line. In each of these cases the designsystem uses a readily available fabrication platform as a point of departureand styles a design interaction between consumer and product. Te end useris given a level of customization and personalization previously unimaginedin contemporary manufacturing.

DOUGLAS HECKERMARTHA SKINNER

1.

Droog Design,http://droogdesign.nl/, 2006

2Framing Strategy

As soon as the trusses arriveto the homeowners site, they

are raised by the community

3Enclosure

The Dry-in House is designedto a 2-0 module so thatstandard, readily availablesheet goods can be used forenclosure; this reducesthe skill level required forconstruction and minimizeswaste


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83THE DRY-IN HOUSE

4 Customization

After being dried-in, the housecan be further customizedover time by the owners, bothin plan (with the subdivision ofthe plan) and with the interior-exterior finishes

5 Difference within the community

The Dry-in house is a mass customized house in which homeowners can customize their house by defining the roof and ceiling profiles.

Te Dry-in House utilizes plate truss technology and associatedparametric modeling software to engineer and fabricate highly customizedtrusses that meet individual preferences. Tis mass customization technologyis employed to create the customized building section of each familys house.Te truss is not used in its typical manner (spanning over the house), butrather, it forms the section and superstructure of the house (roof, wall andfloor). Te Dry-in House allows the owner-designer to draw the section oftheir new home through a simple to use web-based design program in whichthe plan of the home is fixed but the section is flexible. Tis allows the ownerto customize the section to their specific needs and desires. Because of thenarrow lot configurations in New Orleans, the design maximizes the roof asa source for natural ventilation and for interior light. In addition, the house isone room deep. Tis not only provides cross ventilation in all rooms, but alsominimizes reliance on artificial HVAC systems.

In contrast to the one-size-fits-all approach to emergency housing,the Dry-in House proposes a mass-customized shell to bring residents backto their own home sites in a timely manner. With the Dry-In House, theowner is supplied with an inhabitable shell that may be customized both

before it is fabricated as well as onsite. Te project can continue to be fittedout over time. As its name implies, the Dry-in House primarily provides atimely dried-in space which doubles as a customized infrastructure for thereconstruction of permanent homes and neighborhoods. Tis customizedinfrastructure gets residents back to their property quickly. Te dwelling canbe finished by the resident over time, according to each familys preferences,timeline and means a process that gives the residents a part in the greaterreconstruction effort while allowing for a personalized sollution.


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84 DOUGLAS HECKERMARTHA SKINNER

6Home-owner input

The displaced residents of New Orleans can design their new houses which are fabricated as they prepare for their return home

7Environmental control

The homeowner can design the roof and ceiling profiles to allow natural lighting and ventilation into the interior spaces


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85THE DRY-IN HOUSE

8Instructions

Dry-in House owners are sent a one-page worksheet in the mail which outlines steps for beginning to sketch out potential roof andceiling plane configurations for their new home


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Te following text and images represent more than four years of experi-ence in applying design technology to building projects at Morphosis. Tatis to say that most of the effort is focused on changing the way designs arerealized. Much of the work has been oriented towards allaying the fear ofcomplex geometry. But as geometry is only a portion of design, it has to beunderstood in the context of broader architectural desires. It must also beconsidered in the larger paradigmatic shift brought about by informationtechnologies in communication, biology and manufacturing.

Design IntentMorphosis is driven by perceptual qualities and structural characteristics inequal measure. Some geometric moves happen at a large scale (e.g. roofscapesrelated to groundscapes) and rules are established very early and change littlethroughout the project. But the forms and spaces one experiences in a projectresult from interactions with other constructs such as wall surfaces, withtheir own driving system. Some of these interactions achieve desirable resultsvery early in a project, others dont stop processing even during detail design.

Morphosis application of formal systems is distinguished by the inter-section of

Documents

Future Wood