Twisted Logic | Thinking Outside and Inside the Box

Light frame construction with wood is flexible, adaptable, cheap, renewable, and requires very little skill to assemble. It is a dominant system for good reason and has changed little in over a century. We believe introducing our project titled “Zippered Wood” to the stick framing approach could reframe this construction method, making it more responsive and resource responsible. We are developing a pair of experimental wall prototypes that challenge conventional wall construction through the free modification of its most basic component, the 2×4. Our investigation works at the scales of wood grain, wood member, and software interface to free the architect to conceptualize and deliver more sophisticated wood framed buildings. We aim to empower the architect by amplifying her control over material forming strategies, introducing adaptability into the forming process, and finally reducing the cost of shaping materials in time, treasure, and setup. We have installed a wall prototype to test the strategy, and at the time of this publication, the team is working toward a pavilion-scale prototype. These projects are discussed at the end of this paper. Before we discuss pavilions we will outline and situate the material innovations, the software we are developing to allow architects to apply those innovations, and context for our work.

https://doi.org/10.35483/ACSA.AM.107.68

Volume Editors
Amy Kulper, Grace La & Jeremy Ficca

ISBN
978-1-944214-21-0