This paper presents a strategy to design and build strained timber gridshells
from exclusively straight timber planks, which are interwoven and elastically deployed
into a doubly curved web. For this purpose, we combine asymptotic (A) and geodesic
(G) curves into hybrid AAG-webs on curved surfaces.We present a digital method to
design and geometrically optimize the timber AAG-webs to include equal intersection
angles and geodesic boundaries. This new construction system benefits from the targeted
use of the two differing bending axes of timber planks for flexibility and rigidity.
The flat geodesic planks are interlaced at the midpoint of the asymptotic beams to
create a tri-hex pattern, which lowers the buckling length and decisively increases the
overall stiffness. As a proof of concept, a large-scale timber gridshell covering an area
of 60m2 was designed and built.We document the construction process of manufacturing,
prefabrication, elastic deformation, on-site assembly, and installation of the
polycarbonate cover to verify constructive tolerances and feasibility. The structure is
tested and simulated to validate our computational results.
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