Study Architecture 
ProPEL 
Author(s): Steven Beites
The paper presents the early development of a novel mass timber-ceramic wall assembly that speaks to the importance of sustainable, performative and aesthetic potentials within the built environment. The work seeks to broaden the extensive body of research conducted on the robotic additive manufacturing of customized ceramic clay printing for large scale construction, exploring the possibilities of clay for its performative and formal capacity. It employs the use of an industrial robotic platform not as a device for automation, but for its ability to produce unique elements through a craft-based methodology in search of variability and specificity. Recognizing the limitation of ceramics as a load bearing material, it seeks to uncover its potential when combined with mass timber. As a result, dowel-laminated timber (DLT) is explored for its numerous advantages including structural efficiency, low toxic manufacturing processes, its inherent renewability and speed of construction. With the renewed interest in mass timber structures in recent years, we are nonetheless confronted with the realities of this unique natural material. Being both anisotropic and hygroscopic, wood’s inherent moisture-storage capacity makes it susceptible to water and air infiltration, vapor migration and condensation (Gagnon et al. 2013). Whether it be dowel-laminated or cross-laminated, timber’s sensitivity to moisture and its vulnerability to the elements renders itself unsuitable as a cladding application. Responding to this need, traditional cladding solutions for mass timber assemblies generally do not offer sustainable alternatives nor do they provide heightened aesthetic interest. As a result, the paper explores the production of material effects that go beyond superficiality by addressing the shortcomings of exposed mass timber wall assemblies through the development of a protective ceramic ventilated façade system that combines ornamental effects with performative criteria.
https://doi.org/10.35483/ACSA.AM.108.2
Volume Editors
ISBN
978-1-944214-26-5
