Integrated Computational & Façade Design Project
CONTEXT
In the heart of a Friedwald (forest cemetery), students from the Master program were invited to envision a pavilion—a quiet sanctuary for farewell ceremonies. This pavilion was intended for funeral ceremonies, providing protection from the elements (shade and rain) for an audience of around 35 seated people, as well as the officiating priest or speaker.
GOAL
The project emphasized the potentials of regionally sourced wood to create innovative structures. The material should inspire new methods of connection, assembly, and responsive design properties, ultimately influencing the pavilion‘s form and design.
FINALISTS
In the end of the semester, the top student works were chosen by the representative at the Friedwald Kalletal for potential realization and collaboration.
Ilayda Ergin, Bekir Kalakan / Bending Wood / First Prize Winner
METHODOLOGY
In this project, Mnenomic, they challenge the active bending properties of wood to create a form using 3D Graphic Statics, a geometric structure design method, inspired by their precedents in the Polyhedral Structures Laboratory.
Farah Gheith, Pegah Khademi, Fady Mahrous / Tree Fork Structure / Second Prize Winner
The Video is combining Ai Runway and Lumion video rendering, and the sound was recorded live from the forest in Kalletal by Alvaro Balderrama
METHODOLOGY
In this project by Farah Gheith, Pegah Khademi, and Fady Mahrous, traditional craftsmanship of the NRW region, Nieheimer Flechthecke, seamlessly merges with digital innovation. The construction process begins with scanning discarded tree to form an inventory, which are then algorithmically-aligned to match a tessellated pattern of a Minimal Surface. The outcome is a space that embodies the profound reverence of a spiritual ceremony, celebrating the life cycle of trees, and people in a poetic full-circle moment.
From sketches to Digital Fabrication
The joinery discovery phase went back and forth from digital modelling to wood carpentry to solve the problems that arise from the natural properties of the raw wood, to find a seamless approach that preserved the structural integrity of the tree forks.
Jerin Joy, Arved Radkowski, Juan Hernández, Mejbah Sakib / Third Prize
METHODOLOGY
For the third runner up, this project is an outcome of a multi-disciplinary team of architects, civil engineer, and product designer meticulously wraps the surroundings in careful consideration not to harm any of the existing trees. It mimics the natural forms of the surrounding forest while introducing the sleekness of the treated wood.
The grid of beams in the roof creates many different joints, that would only be possible with digital fabrication tools, which the team had crafted a unified solution, that allowed for a similar joinary method to be implemented across the different angles of the beams
Kirshna Tej Jami, Amerah Khan, Daya Sara Daniel / Third Prize
METHODOLOGY
Another third prize winner was chosen, which works with circle packing logs into a shell structure, the result is a light weight pavilion that invites users to celebrate their passed loves. The team worked closely with different physical and digital models to realize the construction details that would allow this construction to be possible while maintaining it’s aesthetics.
Students of 2024 SS on Jury day with our guests Mr. Düning Gast, Mr. Homuth, Prof. Hans Sachs, Alvaro Balderrama
