Parametric Design, Digital Fabrication
Soundless; Runtime: 8 min.
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How far has computer technology come? Is a computer capable of generating a timber roof – and subsequently producing it by means of CNC fabrication – entirely on its own? At the Chair for Architectural Informatics at TUM (Technische Universitaet Muenchen), Stefan Kaufmann, Gerhard Schubert and their students put the technology to the test: they employed all of the means available to them to plan and produce a timber roof which can be dismantled and re-assembled. The experiment pointed out both the possibilities and the limitations of the digital process chain. This video shows how the 800 parametrically generated building components are put together and secured with a tension belt. The architects paid special attention to the connections. The tension element, a steel packing strap, is held in place in grooves in the wood boards. These grooves are not visible from the exterior. When the time comes to disassemble the roof, the strap is simply clipped and then the timber elements can be taken apart.
Chair for Architectural Informatics, Technische Universitaet Muenchen
Stefan Kaufmann, Gerhard Schubert
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