SuperLog
Project Team Ling Kit Cheung
Rui Hang Yong
Michael A. Kindica
Xueying Wang
Timber Medium Felled Branches
Tree Species Eucalyptus Punctata
(Grey Gum)
Embodied Carbon - 13.89 kgCO2e
Installation Piece
By embracing the natural geometry of a tree, this project challenges how we can reduce waste by rethinking our design process. Tree forks are usually considered an offcut in the timber industry and are rarely used in construction due to their irregularities and inconsistencies. Employing advanced digital tools like parametric modelling, 3D scanning, and 5-axis robotic fabrication, this initiative showcases how creative design processes can transform perceived offcuts into valuable structural elements, challenging conventional practices and promoting sustainability.
Our material was responsibly sourced from a timber farm in Chichester, NSW, where Blue Gum, Grey Gum and Turpentine Trees are the main tree species around the farm. A template was used to identify the branches with the optimal length and angle.
After gathering the branches from the farm, we 3D scanned every branch to establish a digital inventory. Information of the tree fork, including its geometry, centerline, and volume, was used to further develop into a structure.
A parametric script using Grasshopper was developed to align the branches into a hexagonal grid. The arch was then created using Kangaroo Physics, alongside the Evolutionary Algorithm WallaceiX, 5000 iterations were run to test the best configuration of the branches that would create the least structural displacement.
Our aim is to minimise the wastage of material by unlocking the structural potentials of the tree fork, which are commonly deeded unusable and discardable in construction. By embracing the uncertainty of nature, through the investigation of the organic geometries and natural strength of the branching nodes. We aim to design the structure with minimal alteration to the material, to not only retain its natural forms, and to also take advantage of the msterial's inherently low embodied carbon in its life cycle, and further reduce its embodied carbon in fabrication.