Advanced Timber Structures. Architectural Designs and Digital Dimensioning

Discovering the unused potential of wood

Wood is usually perceived as a “traditional” material. However, the properties of this material have now for some time made it possible to design free shapes and highly complex structures.

Today, the wood laboratory of the EPF Lausanne, which was originally founded by Julius Natterer, is testing the production of origami structures, ribbed shells, fabric structures and curved panels under the guidance of Professor Weinand using digital calculation and computer-aided processing methods. The research results are tested in prototypes, which demonstrate the potential applications in large-scale timber buildings. By exploring the hitherto unused potential of wood as a construction material, this book provides an exciting and inspiring outlook on a new generation of timber buildings.

• Current research results from the wood construction laboratory of the EPF Lausanne
• Prototypes developed by a multidisciplinary team of structural engineers, architects, mathematicians and IT specialists
• Wood as a high-tech material