Exploring natural wood: A workflow for using non-uniform sawlogs in digital design and fabrication

By investigating methods for using computation and digital manufacturing technologies to integrate material properties with architectural design tools, the research in this paper aims at revealing new potentials for the use of wood in architecture. Through an explorative approach, material particularities and fabrication methods are explored and combined into new workflows and architectural expressions. The research looks into different properties and capacities of wood, but the main part of the experimentation revolves around crooked oak logs. Due to their irregularities, these logs are normally discarded. However, through the methods suggested in this research, they are instead
matched with unique processing informed by their divergence. The research presents a workflow for handling the discrete shapes of sawlogs in a system that both involve the collecting of material, scanning/digitization, handling of a stockpile, computer analysis, design, and robotic manufacturing. The workflow includes multiple custom-made solutions for handling the complex and different shapes and data of wood logs in a highly digitized machining and fabrication environment. The suggested method is established through investigations of wood as a natural material, studies of the production lines in the current
wood industry, and experimentation in our in-house laboratory facilities.
This up-cycling of discarded wood supply establishes a non-standard workflow that utilizes non-standard material stock and leads to a critical articulation of today’s linear material economy. The research thereby gives an example of how the natural forms and properties of sawlogs can be directly used to generate new structures and spatial conditions.