Robotic Fabrication of Structural Performance-based Timber Gridshell in Large-Scale Building Scenario

Abstract

This paper investigates the potential of a digital geometry system to integrate structural performance-based design and robotic fabrication in the scenario of building a large-scale non-uniform timber shell. It argues that a synthesis of multi-objective optimization, design and construction phases is required in the realization of timber shell construction in architecture practice in order to fulfill the demands of building regulation. Confronting the structural challenge of the non-uniform shell, a digital geometry system correlates all the three phases by translating geometrical information between them. First, a series of structural simulations and experimentations with different objectives are executed to inform the particular shape and tectonic details of each shell component based on its local condition in the geometrical system. Then, controlled by the geometrical system, a hybrid process of different digital fabrication technologies, including a customized robotic timber mill, is established to enable the manufacture of the heterogeneous shell components. Ultimately, the Timber Structure Enterprise Pavilion as the demonstration and evaluation of this method is fabricated and assembled on site through a notational system to indicate the applicability of this research in practical scenarios.