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This paper introduces a computational design and co-robotic fabrication framework to enable the construction of non-standard structures from reclaimed timber, addressing the challenges of material heterogeneity and inventory constraints. The framework integrates data-driven design with adaptive human-robot collaboration, allowing for real-time adjustments based on material properties and availability. A case study installation, Timbrelyn, validates the framework's ability to create architecturally expressive structures while promoting material reuse and reducing waste in construction.
Imagine buildings that adapt to the materials available, not the other way around: this framework uses robots to make it a reality.
Climate change and resource depletion demand a shift from the dominant linear"take-make-use-dispose"paradigm of construction toward circular, low-waste practices. Material reuse offers a promising pathway by reducing raw material extraction, mitigating waste, and extending the service lifespan of carbon-sequestering materials such as timber. Realizing this potential, however, requires addressing technical and logistical challenges across both design and construction for accommodating heterogeneous, reclaimed material inventories. This paper presents an integrated framework that couples data-driven computational design with feedback-driven adaptive human-robot collaborative (co-robotic) fabrication and assembly to enable the realization of nonstandard structures made from reclaimed timber of varying length and geometries, supplemented with new off-the-shelf timber when necessary. The framework is validated through Timbrelyn, a built case-study installation that demonstrates how timber reuse can inform and enhance architectural expression. This work contributes to the development of integrated design-to-fabrication workflows that advance adaptive, feedback-driven methods to handle inventory constraints and reclaimed material uncertainties, facilitating material reuse in the design and construction of new buildings and structures.
