Iterative surface design for constructions based on timber panels

• Presented at: Statusseminar Schweizerische Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Holzforschung SAH, Dübendorf, 19.03.2008
• Published in: SAH Statusseminar
• : EMPA, 2008

The aim of our research is to develop a powerful tool for the generation and the fabrication of free-form architecture. Within the last years, architectural design has shown great interest in the design of new and complex geometries, commonly known as free-form architecture. The lack of constructive feasibility of the designed architectural objects, generally designed in classical NURBS-modeling CAD-software, led us to consider discrete IFS-Modeling for architectural use. The proposed modeling technique constructs iteratively geometric figures. It allows a direct translation of the geometric data into a set of construction elements. The studied surface design method aims to satisfy different specific construction criteria. Several surface methods have been tested in order to meet the constraints as for example the one of planarity, which is given by the fact that the construction material is a planar timber panel. The example of the B-Spline shell structure studies the conversion of a tensor product surface into its physically built pendant. Finally, the proposed methods are tested and verified by the construction of reduced scale models. The studied surface design method and the obtained results show that the developed design tool allows efficient production of free form architecture at a lower price in terms of design and production time. Observing the present development in terms of integrated production of the timber industry in Switzerland and more generally in Europe, the proposed design method is highly potential to offer new efficient ways to produce innovative timber constructions.

Keywords: IFS-Modeling ; Freeform Architecture ; Timber Construction ; Coplanarity

Reference

• IBOIS-CONF-2008-016

Record created on 2008-04-10, modified on 2016-08-08