Paper

XX-LAM: The Architecture of Curved Cross-Laminated Timber

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Abstract

Since its inception in the early 90s, cross-laminated timber has surged in popularity as a credible alternative to concrete and steel. It's myriad uses, based on advancing the materials science of timber composites have culminated in new methods of prefabrication, mass production and fast-track assembly. However, perhaps its most significant benefit is its proven capacity to sequester carbon. This paper suggests that to maintain the upward trajectory of mass timber, it should also subject itself to an ongoing process of formal and material experiments that are then evaluated as an architectural language. It presents a research project (XX-LAM) that explores these possibilities through an experimental approach to the act of making. In this case, the term “cross lamination” (or X-LAM) is adopted as a conceptual strategy wherein the material science of wood lamination is combined (or “crossed”) with the discipline of late modernist formal exercises like the New York Five’s “kit-of-parts problem” with particular reference to the work of John Hejduk The research concludes by applying these forms to speculation on the architectural language of typical building typologies. It presents a series of iterations that combine vaulted ceilings, circular openings and curved vertical extrusions. These iterations produce new materiality, form and architectural language that are interpretations of “free plan”, “cycloid barrel vaults”, and groin vault architecture.

Keywords: cross-laminated timber, formalism, kit-of-parts problem

How to Cite:

Griffiths, J., (2023) “XX-LAM: The Architecture of Curved Cross-Laminated Timber”, Building Technology Educators’ Society 2023(1), 59–62. doi: https://doi.org/10.7275/btes.1934