Upcycling Tree Branches as Architectural Elements through Collaborative Design and Fabrication
Hironori Yoshida, Maria Larsson, Takeo Igarashi · 2019
While tree trunks are standardized as lumber, branches are typically chipped or burned. This paper proposes a workflow to upcycle such mundane and diverse natural material to architectural elements. Introducing an online design interface, we let users participate in the design and fabrication workflow from collecting branches to CNC milling. The branches are first scanned, and then key geometrical features are extracted and uploaded to the online game "BranchConnect". This application lets multiple non-expert users create 2D-layouts. At the point of intersection between two branches, the geometry of a lap joint and its cutting path are calculated on-the-fly. A CNC router mills out the joints accordingly, and the branches are assembled manually. Through this workflow, users go back-and-forth between physical and digital representations of tree branches. The process was validated with two case studies.