Changing the mindset behind short-term wooden constructions is MIT. A group of researchers at the university are leading an initiative to investigate new mass timber designs- wood-based buildings designed to be more efficient and cheaper than, yet just as durable as, concrete and steel buildings. The team proposes building mass timber longhouses - large wooden engineered houses built from massive pieces of timber. — interestingengineering.com
Mass Timber Design, MIT's architecture workshop exploring sustainable building design at the intersection of architecture and technology, has developed a Longhouse prototype. Mass timber, a wood-based building design and construction technology, has continued to be explored for its sustainability over other materials such as concrete.
A major environmental concern, concrete production accounts for about 5 percent of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions alone.
The Longhouse draws on its historical background serving as a multi-functional building designed for shared communal space.
The structure consists of a series of timber laminated veneer lumber (LVL) arches spanning across the building’s shorter dimension.
Each arch utilizes a thin-walled triangular profile to minimize deformations in the structure and provide overall rigidity to the building.
Project credits: (Research Scientist) John Klein, (Design-Engineering Team) John Fechtel, Paul Short, Demi Fang, Andrew Brose, Hyerin Lee, Alexandre Beaudouin-Mackay.
1 Comment
The concrete Pantheon in Rome was completed about 2,000 years ago. It has an unreinforced dome 142 feet in diameter. Good luck to MIT in surpassing that.
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