Sanguine Shift.
Mass Manipulation: Mass Timber in Post-digital Architectural Applications
Team: EVDA 702.04 Class Research + Individual Design
Instructor: Josh Taron
2020
Uniquely self driven studio targeting construction conventions, through the lens of harvesting, manufacturing, cradle to cradle LCA and emerging computational design techniques.
Diagram: Neal Borstmayer
Diagram: Ellen Odegaard
By identifying manufacturing trends and addressing industry pitfalls we are able to craft an approach to use as the basis of a fictional company:
Roundwood Inc.
Roundwood Inc. is a speculative company which revolves around the tenets of inclusivity, repeatability and efficiency. In the Grow West report by the Government of Canada they identify four pillars for company growth: Diversification, Trade, Skills, and Communities. This company looks to address all of these in the context of Mass Timber.
Our company is centered around a central campus located in the neighborhood of Ramsey in Calgary Alberta, and a housing facility in the Commercial core. The campus provides an industrial space for us to mill and produce CLT & glulam, also create our housing modules and parts, while the downtown campus provides residential space for our staff.
A future campus expansion utilizes existing transportation infrastructure and consolidates manufacturing and harvesting to maximize efficiency.
How can we motivate a stagnant industry reliant on antiquated construction techniques?
Standardization through connection homogeneity paired with novel robotic fabrication creates a streamlined assembly process, eliminating excess waste as well as reducing traffic in the construction area.
While digital fabrication has presented us with many new manufacturing possibilities, it has also given us the responsibility of using these new tools to reduce the impact we have on our environment.
Identifying site features
and assigning vector forces
Investigating form finding
through spin force
How can a building catalyze the construction industry’s commitment to lower carbon emissions as well as inspire carbon transparency?
This project aims to alter conventional construction paradigms to align with consumer wants and needs of sustainable practices. The aim of this project is to show how we can gain agency over our impact on earth through the things that we create.
Total Carbon Sequestered:
6 kilotonnes
Mass timber has an inherent quality of being a reminder of our environmental impact, and a perfect liaison for our stewardship over that impact. By combining all these factors we can create a harvesting, manufacturing and assembly logic that is driven by digital tools and research.
What possibilities does the future bring?
