Advances in Digital Design and Fabrication of Wooden Architecture

This paper deals with the possibilities of architectural design of wooden structures in the digital age. The first part of the paper presents the material-based design as a new approach to shaping free-form objects. The problem is that a new geometry requires new materials or a new approach to old, well-known building materials and structures. The lack of suitable materials to build curvilinear free-form surfaces has led to the use of traditional materials in new ways.

The second part describes the historical techniques of designing and manufacturing of curvilinear wooden forms. They were compared to digital tectonics as a new methodology in architectural design. Historically, architects and carpenters used the stereotomy method and manufactured non-standard wooden elements (e.g. guitarde dormers and balconies), taking into account the inherent properties of the material. Digital CAD/CAM technologies have radically changed the conceptual approach to architectural and engineering design. Architectural forms created with the use of digital parametric tools are considered in terms of geometry, material properties and means of production. Such well-known buildings as Chesa Futura in St Moritz (Switzerland) and Weltstadthaus in Cologne (Germany) were presented as model examples of digital tectonic design in wooden architecture.

In the Discussion, the paper presents the advantages of timber architecture. The new generation of high-performance wood materials offers unique architectural possibilities. The digital era led to the transformation of traditional tectonics into digital tectonics operating in terms of construction logic shaped according to the principles of digital design and fabrication tools. The CAD/CAM system is the basic formula of digital tectonic approach and it unveils inherent properties of wood as a natural material.