Wood is no longer considered as antiquated, sentimental, or
anchored in the past, but is widely acknowledged as one of the most promising
building materials for the future, especially in light of the environmental
issues that architecture is confronting. New technologies for enhancing wood
construction have experienced tremendous progress in recent years.
New wood technology, materials, and science are boosting
attempts to improve safety and structural performance at a time when engineers,
designers, and builders must find solutions for a resource-constrained world.
Wood’s performance characteristics have long been
recognised by standards, which allow it to be used in a wide range of low- to
mid-rise residential and non-residential structures. Furthermore, in terms of
strength, durability, fire safety, seismic performance, and sustainability,
wood often outperforms steel and concrete.
Based on established
architectural experts, the computational approach is the new horizon. So, what
are they, how do they function, and how might they assist in the construction
process?
Everyone in the industry can benefit from digital tools.
They can even improve relationships between clients, architects, builders, and
suppliers.
Robust user communities have contributed custom plug-ins to
computational software tools that enable a wide range of computations and
analysis, from geometrical to mathematical to machine learning.
Day lighting and building energy simulation, people
movement, structural finite element analysis, CNC robotic simulation and tool
path generation, geometric analysis and optimization for freeform facade panel
planarity, form-finding, and physics simulation, including Computational Fluid
Dynamics, are all examples of building performance characteristics that can be
evaluated.
So what are these
digital tools and how do they function?
Computational Design is
an over-arching term which defines an algorithmic design process. So instead of
manually defining a specific element, a set of rules defines a system.
Generative Design
starts with the design goals—what the building, system or structure must
achieve in terms of performance—and then the software iterates through possible
solutions to find the best option.
Parametric Modelling
uses rules or parameters defined by the design team to generate a model. As
elements are associative, they are capable of quickly and automatically
adapting to changes. So if a rule changes, a parametric model will
automatically adjust every element where the rule applies.
Design for
Manufacture and Assembly is a specific digital design and delivery approach
where an element is designed to facilitate manufacturing of parts off-site in a
manner which can be efficiently and safely assembled on-site.
How Computational
Design is Abetting in the Alleviation of Construction
Computational design allows for a vertically integrated
approach, linking design, engineering, and fabrication data. Both structural
analysis and fabrication information generation are automatically updated as
the general shape of the surfaces changes throughout the design.
3D modelling design, structural analysis, CNC milling data,
and fabrication drawings all require computational design. Custom algorithms
are built to randomise the position of batten joints across the soffit while
still maintaining manufacturing restrictions like panel overlap. A parametric
3D modelling approach allows rule sets for prefabricated panels and battens to
be specified, and then 3D models and fabrication information are generated
automatically.
Reimagining the
Future of the Built Environment
One useful aspect of computational design with timber is
enabling structural analysis and the automatic generation of fabrication
information for geometrically complex projects.
Architectural possibilities are enabled by cutting-edge
computational technologies in wood construction. Through built projects and
works, it provides both an overarching architectural understanding and in-depth
technological information.
There is a long history of designing and creating
complicated or free-form shapes and structures of various sizes using timber as
a natural resource. The material’s flexibility and workability make it suitable
for shaping and milling, but its inherent flaws and inconsistency make
predictability difficult. Indigenous buildings created with bamboo, reed, and
hardwoods in various parts of the world are potentially some of the first
structures produced utilising wood curled into structure.
