Innovative Timber Constructions

Yves WEINAND Born 1963; diploma in architecture

Prof. Dr. and in civil engineering; Ph.D. in
structural engineering RWTH
EPFL ENAC IIC IBOIS Aachen; founder of Bureau d’études
Lausanne, Switzerland Weinand, Liège; professor at EPFL
Yves.weinand@epfl.ch and director of the IBOIS/EPFL
Lausanne; co-founder of SHEL
Architecture Engineering and
Production Design, Geneva.

Summary
The research undertaken in the EPFL’s Timber Construction Laboratory aims both to question in
depth the relationship between engineering sciences and architectural conception and to expose new
facets of this relationship. The IBOIS is firmly integrated in the Civil Engineering Institute, as well
as being involved in architecture through the setting up of a workshop for architecture masters
students. Timber construction has a great future in the face of global sustainable development
challenges. The advantages are well-known as far as low energy consumption for the production of
building components (planks, boards, beams, etc.) is concerned. Savings in time and energy
consumption are also noticeable in timber structure assembly and dismantling processes. But the
challenges of sustainable development also concern the issue of architectural form. How can one
introduce a process of formal and technological innovation in a perspective of sustainability?
Keywords: timber structures, form finding, structural analyze.

1. Introduction
The IBOIS research laboratory proposes to investigate and develop a new family of timber
constructions based on principles of origami folded plate structures and textile fabrics. In this
context, and within the scope of several case studies, one of the core objectives is to create an
innovative structural system with concise aesthetic, spatial and structural qualities. Thus, the
research addresses important challenges at the frontiers of the field of architecture and civil
engineering.
Research in architecture, architectural composition, production, and even construction processes
remain closely linked to the personal design process of a specific architect, while the architect’s
freedom of expression as an artist is, by definition respected as inherent to the creative process. This
epistemological framework makes research in architecture different and difficult to accept for
disciplines more clearly rooted in either technical or social sciences cultures. In general, research in
architecture is not primarily intended to give importance to the technique that is applied. Truly
interdisciplinary research approaches linking architecture with civil engineering remain difficult.
Technical considerations are very often considered as an almost neutral set of knowledge, which do
not, or should not affect in a determinate manner the initial creative design process of a given
architect. Technique, construction methods and ultimately civil engineering and static
considerations are seen as almost unwelcome ingredients in a certain number of cases. Those
supposedly neutral technical considerations are more often than not tacked on at a belated stage in
the design process, compromising the truly interdisciplinary and fundamental quality that such
research approaches could aspire to. The aesthetic quality of the newly generated structures and
forms discussed within this paper are considered to be of significant influence both in establishing
those forms on a building scale and in establishing their acceptance on a social scale. A detailed
understanding of textile techniques is essential both to appreciating the aesthetic qualities of the
novel construction materials resulting from our research and to proposing novel wood-based
structures that are both feasible and useful for society. This research will offer numerous
opportunities for architectural, civil engineering and small scale applications.

2. Towards a new family of structures

The application of origami and textiles principles to building scale timber derived structures is in
itself an act of invention, since civil engineering structures have first and foremost to satisfy as
robust structures – beams, columns, construction elements that are constituent parts of a bigger
integral unit – in order to achieve their load-bearing quality. Our society is not used to thinking
about such major civil engineering infrastructure and equipment using expressions such as
‘origami’, ‘textile’ or ‘timber’. The word ‘textile’ usually carries an underlying connotation of
softness, and the word “origami” an underlying connotation of fragility, which does not match the
general context of engineering structures. At present, ‘origami’ and ‘textile’ techniques have a large
range of applications and interpretations, but there have been no previous attempts to connect their
qualities and production technologies to the scale of timber construction. The invention of structural
timber fabric requires both a vision of the future and an understanding of the past to inspire an
integrated planning process, where craft, technique, aesthetic and structural engineering’s aspects
come together as they did just before the revolutionary “Age of Enlightenment”, but this time using
contemporary engineering methods and tools.
Applying origami principles and textiles to building scale is also an act of invention within the field
of architecture and specific contemporary architectural approaches. The raw resource in question
has innate qualities (such as smoothness) that can also satisfy aesthetic demands and conceptual
qualities that architects value. The emerging tools in digital architecture, design software, and the
digital drawing tool, seen as an instrument to conceive architecture, have opened the way for
broader applications of digital technology, also those of a technical nature. Together the emerging
technical advances that now lie within attainable horizons render feasible the integration of textile
principles, textile technologies and fabrications systems in ways that were unthinkable only a few
years ago.
The environmental arguments for enlarging the possible uses of renewable timber resources are
undeniable. Society’s burgeoning awareness of the urgent need to define/use/consume materials that
are sustainable has become an important influence in timber construction’s renewed economic
importance in recent years. Environmental considerations are set to restore or establish the
legitimate use of timber in our cities’ constructions on a scale unprecedented since many centuries.
We are only now discovering that techniques ranging from friction-welding, knitting, weaving and
even origami can be applied to timber on a building scale. The application of such techniques can
radically expand timber’s range of technical and aesthetic attributes. Just as such techniques
promise to lead to the invention of timber products fit for novel purpose; society is becoming both
culturally and economically ready to accept timber as a construction material which is no longer
marginal.
Timber construction research asks for cross cultural and interdisciplinary approaches borrowed
from architecture, civil engineering and material science. But the timber construction industry itself
has remained a particularly conservative and traditional one. It is only when examined at a closer
perspective than is traditionally associated with its present day uses in the construction industry that
timber reveals its surprisingly close connections to other textile materials and its vast potential for
the application of textile techniques: Timber can be classified as both a soft materiel and a viscous
material having smooth properties. It is subject to “creep”, almost as a liquid material. All timber is
basically composed of a multitude of cellulose fibres. These smooth fibres are flexible, allowing
curvature.
Until now, the capacity to impose curvature for example on glued laminated timber beams, has not
lead to a broader interpretation of that property for timber, but in fact its implications are profound.
Indeed timber has the capacity to adopt and to retain any given form. The application of textile
principles to timber constructions at a building scale allows us to take advantage of the possibility
to curve timber elements. Timber is on the point of becoming amenable to the realization of highly
complex woven structural systems. In such systems, an important number of interactions of pieces
of relatively small size constitute robust large scale structures, satisfying efficiency of production
and safety considerations. They can combine aesthetic qualities such lightness and light
transmission and functional qualities such as rigidity or flexibility. This radically new generation of
timber construction is set to change the face of timber construction as an architectural form, both
taking it away from the classical image of traditional architecture and improving the use of timber
in constructions of contemporary character. The old-fashioned image of timber as the material of
the ‘chalet’ and related vernacular architecture could soon give way to a contemporary
interpretation of the use of timber in our constructions and establish it as a high-tech material
playing a central role in a society concerned by sustainability.
From the combination of the ‘ingredients’ “timber”, “textile”, “fabric” and “civil engineering
structure” may emerge a generation of structures which has literally no equivalent or even
counterpart today. It is possible, (even probable), that in addition, other presently unforeseen
applications for new “virtual” structures will emerge from the data we can collect from actually
producing the prototypes of such structures at building scale. This area of research could lead to
new forms of furniture, carpentry, design applications in general, and have implications for other
timber related applications such as floor finishings, separating walls etc.
If at this point in time most of the specific applications must remain as pure conjecture, the initial,
interdependent steps of designing and physically conceiving hitherto inexistent forms of woven
timber constructions can only stimulate further developments of the timber industries and the use of
timber in the construction sector.
On a wider level, the investigations of the IBOIS laboratory contribute to a more profound
understanding of spatial structures in general and set new precedents for cooperative interaction
between the architects and engineers who will analyze those structures.

3. Potential impacts
3.1 Promoting a renewable material by appealing design

With the current discussion on the change of the global climate in mind, it is more than obvious that
there is a need to change our social behaviour in many ways. Alternative energy (re-) sources need
to be discovered and made accessible and a lower consumption of energy needs to be achieved.
Here the production and energy consumption of building structures play an important role, which
makes timber, as a renewable resource, an interesting building material that should be used more
frequently as such. However, environmentally conscious behaviour cannot be achieved by obtrusion
only. In order for more people to invest in environmentally friendly products and materials, these
have to become more attractive as well. In the past, this was a problem for the popularity of
sustainable architecture, which was mainly realized with timber as the building material. It has
always had a rustic, primitive and alternative association, which, though attractive to some, was
repellent to many other potential clients. In order to access this later group, design needs to be
treated as a serious criterion. The design of contemporary and appealing architecture with timber is
now both necessary and possible.

3.2 Buildings with a higher disaster resistance

Traditional design and development of large structures are largely based on the concepts of stiffness
and efficiency. They are substantially aimed at minimizing the bending of the structural components
and at generating structures that can be characterized as rigid and inflexible, avoiding elasticity.
Disastrous failures of conventional structures (for instance under conditions of seismic activity or
unusually strong wind forces), are reason enough to suggest we must rethink these paradigms of
stiffness and efficiency and try to strike a new path in the conception of structures. Here, textile
techniques, especially the way they are deployed in basketry, provide interesting perspectives. They
offer high-resolution networks, composed of many individual components. Together they form an
entity, which offers the advantage that the failure of singular elements does not trigger the failure of
the entire system.
3.3 Establish new timber derived products and applications in construction
In fills and claddings, ready-to-build-systems can already be developed from the basic principles
described in this proposal. In addition alternative architecture applications exist but have not yet
been taken further for industrial applications; as an example, one might envisage the industrial
production of new classes of timber derived products such as weaved timber separating walls.

3.4 Improve and expand the uses of timber for public buildings
Timber structures made out of simple rectilinear elements have essentially defined timber
construction and carpentry for centuries. With the development of new digital tools, timber
construction could be transformed allowing its introduction into a wide range of new applications.
As shown by the use of the various digital tools under development, other potentially physically
achievable geometries and constructions may emerge first as virtual representations. Such
developments introduce a new range of civil engineering challenges of interest in the field of timber
construction. To date, structural analysis has not been as widely applied to timber construction as it
has to steel or concrete construction. Now, the use of planar structural elements made out of timber-
derived products and of curved linear elements, such as those described below, will help to
introduce timber in constructions such as public buildings where architectural and aesthetic
considerations are deemed to be of strong cultural importance.

4. From Origami to free-form structures

It is interesting to note the variability of Origami structures, as shown (Buri, Weinand 2006). Their
architectural, mathematical and engineering concerns are treated by the IBOIS team. (Fig.1) This
level of investigation is a precursor to more complex forms being made out of timber block panels.
Origami-inspired new timber construction has also been the subject of another publication (Buri,
Weinand 2008).
We believe further possible developments could be of interest. Instead of using folded geometric
patterns, as previously proposed, Gilles Gouaty and Ivo Stotz (Stotz, Gouaty, Weinand 2008) of the
IBOIS laboratory have developed a digital modeling interface, which can be seen as a geometric
tool to develop a wide range of folded and also free-form structures. The goal of this particular area
of our research is to create files as a data base for construction purposes. Such structural
descriptions need to be mathematically “clean”, meaning that they work exclusively with discrete
elements (that can be exported for reasons of dimensioning and automated production - the so-
called “digital chain”).
The Iterative Function Systems (IFS) used to design complex wood structures present the advantage
that they allow for the exportation of discrete geometrical surfaces, lines or volumes. By using IFS,
no constant curvature will be produced, in contrast to the use of splines (data interpolation functions)
where such curvature may occur. This research has been described in more detail in the IASS
journal under the title ‘Iterative geometric design for architecture’ (Stotz, Gouaty, Weinand 2009).
In this context the IBOIS research ‘gets real’ by not just proposing construction production and
building methods for timber construction but also and foremost by exploring the mechanical and
structural observations and optimization processes of those timber constructions.

5. From Timber rib shells to woven structures

In order to optimise grids of timber rib shells in the face of the bending stress of the boards due to
initial curvature, the GEOS software [Geodesic line modelar] was developed at the Ecole
Polytechnique Fédérale of Lausanne between 2002 and 2005.
Figure 1. Origami fold; mathematical description; test advice

Figure 2. Prefabricated timber element; real scale prototype

Figure 3 . Generated spatial structure made out of block timber panels

During its application testing stages, in collaboration with the IBOIS laboratory, an automatically
produced large-scale rib shell structure prototype was generated to demonstrate the correct working
of the software. The mechanical analysis of the rib shell structure has since been addressed and the
bending behaviour for nailed or screwed rib shell structures is now known. We have shown that
shell forms can support more intensive bending moments than traditional wood structures,
encouraging us to believe it should be feasible to realise structures inspired by weaving techniques
at the building scale. Stacked planks, - as employed in rib shell structures - show certain analogies
to textile structures, and may be interpreted as quasi-woven fabrics. Timber rib shells are composed
by multilayer elements and those elements are curved. Both of these characteristics can also be
found in textile structures. The development of rib shell structures towards woven structures can be
seen as a direct link: As more precise knowledge of the bending behaviours for nailed or screwed
rib shell structures becomes available, we may expect to see new woven shell forms or structural
timber fabrics emerge which can support more intensive bending moments. This should lead to the
practical realization of such structures inspired by specific weaving techniques.
The expression ‘textile’ is used here not in a literal way as in architecture where the terms textiles
and bashes are employed. The proposed research instead focuses on the structure of textiles and
their woven aspects in general. Textile structures have long attracted the interest of architects, but
mainly because of their aesthetic properties. Until now, their structural characteristics and
particularities have been almost completely neglected. With the recently increasing interest in the
use of textile techniques in architectural applications, there has arisen the motivation for an in-depth
investigation of textile principles and structures in order to improve the ways they are applied in
buildings.
It also identifies consequences of using different textiles techniques in structural elements for large-
scale buildings. It addresses the question of how to translate them into building structures without
betraying the basic principles which underlie their desirable attributes. For instance, in fabrics, as
well as in basketry, the coherence of the yarn elements is governed by friction. The question arises
as to whether textile principles can transform building-scale timber into something with new
properties, something that is more than merely a literal metaphor of weaving. The consequences of
such an approach might result in something that is not immediately recognized as a textile structure,
yet adapts its logic in the most stringent way. This could be achieved by realizing the normally
curved geometry of yarns in fabric, in an abstract way, with non-curved planar elements.
Nowadays, digital processes are a common means of architectural morphogenesis. Nevertheless,
their usage often presently results in projects that neglect actual materiality in one way or another.
Evolutionary processes inform seamless digital matter whose properties have no relation to those of
real materials. Physical matter is treated as a passive compound, a mere means to an end, and form
is obtruded upon it by subtractive techniques such as milling.
Almost any material can be used, depending on which texture effect is desired. Unit-based
processes and techniques can improve the relationship between the digital and physical properties,
as they can be connected to the real world’s necessity for assembly. However, the materiality of the
units or elements plays only a passive role.
We consider the material’s physical properties as an active parameter for the software development.
The digital models we use are based on mathematical descriptions of the fabric structures. These
mathematical descriptions are highly complex and can be achieved by the means of discrete
geometry. Therefore, to successfully execute this part of the work, inputs from mathematics and
mechanical engineering are essential. In the process it allows us to examine to which degree a
certain technique of assembly and the active use of materiality have influence on the geometry of
the resulting construct. It also shows the importance of physical modelling and the advantages this
continues to offer. The first result derived from this approach is the so-called ‘Textile Module’,
which is generated by interbraiding two strands of timber. This use of a particular technique of
assembly, together with the specific material properties, leads towards a structurally efficient
construct. Where the material plays an active role instead of a passive one, its geometry is
automatically generated during the construction iteration process.
The structural analysis of woven wood structures necessitates a stage of preliminary investigations.
In order to establish proper analytical models of such structures, a clear understanding of their
geometry is required. In general, the intention is to build such woven structures out of initially plane
timber derived block panels. During the weaving process, those initially planar panels will be
deformed in order to match curved or better “weaved” forms. The imposed deformations on these
panels will lead to initial stresses provoked by bending and torsion moments, which will appear in
the panels. Specific questions arise such as: Which radius is required? Which curvature can be
accepted? Those questions will be addressed by an empirical approach on ready to build prototype
structures and their close observation in terms of geometry and material properties. The necessary
subsequent structural investigations should become apparent from this type of preliminary
observations.
The scale factor has essential bearing on all scientific and human research. In our own research, we
have been confronted with various questions related to such scale jumps. We wish to know more
about such scale factors and how they can affect the spatial, but also the mechanical behaviour of
structures. We know at present that larger structures are more subject to flexibility and dynamic
sensibility while proceeding with those scale jumps. We are able to define a specific, dynamic
calculation for a specific structure at a given scale. But we have not yet been able to define
parameters, which describe the optimization of these structures through different scales while
keeping every proportion the same. And we do not yet know the underlying rules determining how
these sensibilities occur or when they occur.
The study of this fascinating topic involves a very precise recording of scale jumps related to
structure and how they behave in a mechanical way. In other words, interwoven fabrics form
complex combinations, which interact in ways that can be described with mathematical precision.
At present, we know only that the description of these interactions changes in function of the scale
of the structure.
The development of calculation methods in order to determine the structural stability of these
highly complex constructs is one of the most important goals of the IBOIS. Therefore it is necessary
to accompany the architectural and conceptual parts of our projects with a structural analysis.

Figure 4. Studio Weinand: textiles applied on building scale

Figure 5. Textile module and their combinations on building scale

Figure 6. Real scale testing on textile modules

As we attempt to optimise prototype structures for specific parameters, the first set of observations
that need to be made are systematic comparisons between the initial structure and deformed
structure for every given structural proposal or geometry. Geometrical and mechanical observations
need to be established. The deformation process creates a specific stress situation, which can be
described as initial stress. Those stresses can be determined by means of computer simulation
(Finite element Modelling) where the deformation process is modelled. The initial stress situation
can be established by means of measures taken directly on the physical prototype by stress captures.
Once the initial stress situation is known, various load cases can be performed giving more insight
into the structural performance of a given woven timber fabric. The interaction of the curved
elements occurs in such a way that the final global rigidity of the newly composed structure
increases. In terms of global structural deformation this is an advantage. But when it comes to
absorb high loads in terms of global structural failure such as earthquakes for instance, the initial
structural quality designated as smooth smoothness still represent an advantage since the initial
powerful impulse of the earthquake will absorbed by that smoothness.
In our pilot studies of prototypes, very original structural behaviours have been observed, such as an
increase of the rigidity of a given woven section while applying a load to it, or the section’s inertia
increases during the loading process because of the structure’s capacity to be deformed. Such
observations open very exciting perspectives for the utility of structural optimization processes.

6. Conclusion
The novel timber fabrics we envisage at IBOIS are composed of a multitude of small
interconnecting structural elements. Such iterative structures can be said to develop a sort of ‘social’
behaviour, in the sense that in case of the failure of the weakest element this failure will not
provoke the collapse of the structure as a whole since the load of the weakest element will be
carried by adjacent elements. As a consequence, woven timber structures and origami folded plated
structures show great potential to have a higher security factor (which is yet to be precisely
determined) than traditional timber carpentry where the failure of one element, may lead to the
collapse of the structure. The implications and study of these phenomena need to be further
explored.

7. References
[1] BURI H., WEINAND Y., Die Technik des Origami im Holzbau – Faltwerkkonstruktionen
aus BSP-Elementen, 5. Grazer Holzbau-Fachtagung, 2006, Proceedings, p. N-1 – N-13.
[2] BURI H., WEINAND Y., Origami - Folded Plate Structures, Architecture, WCTE
Miyazaki, Japan, 2008 conference proceedings [on-line]
[3] STOTZ I., GOUATY G., WEINAND Y., IFS-Modeling for Feasible Freeform Timber
Constructions, WCTE Miyazaki, Japan, 2008, conference proceedings [on-line]
[4] STOTZ I., GOUATY G., WEINAND Y., Iterative Geometric Design for Architecture.
Journal of the International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures (IASS), vol. 50
(2009) no 1, April n.160, ISSN:1028-365X, p. 11-20
[5] PIRAZZI C., WEINAND Y. Geodesic Lines on Free-Form Surfaces – Optimized Grids for
Timber Rib Shells, WCTE Portland USA, 2006, conference proceedings (on CD)
[6] NATTERER J., WEINAND Y., Modeling of Multi-Layer Beam with Inter-Layer Slips,
WCTE Miyazaki, Japan, 2008, conference proceedings [on-line]
All WCTE 2008 proceedings available at:
http://www.ewpa.com/mag/EWPA_PastConference.php?PHPSESSID=pb71ovlu7bjemm2r8ac88qrt93&s_Issu
eYear=2008&s_SearchText=&s_LAST=Weinand&s_Type=&MAG_Issue_ArticlesPageSize , visited April
2011