The Topology+ thesis section is part of an active collaboration between the University of Michigan and the Chicago office of Skidmore Owings & Merrill (SOM). As part of this collaboration students, professors, and professionals from SOM work to research and understand the ways in which digital fabrication can help to evolve current design and fabrication practices in order to help push the role of digital fabrication in typical construction. The focus for this year’s group was primarily timber construction along with techniques such as 5-axis CNC milling.

As a way to begin our investigations, our cohort worked to study a variety of different structural systems that could leverage common and accessible materials while also providing opportunities to uses these materials outside of their typical applications. Quickly landing on reciprocal frame structures as a potential avenue, we worked in teams to better understand the implications of these systems in order to help in the design of an exterior classroom for Ray Elementary School in the southside of Chicago.

Our study focused on optimizing the system through easily mortise and tenon joinery that would alleviate the need to compensate for varying material thicknesses as well as post-processing of the members. Along with this, we worked to understand the ways in which we could begin to couple these reciprocal frame systems together through the addition of an interstitial layer composed of lateral bracing. Forming a pseudo space frame, this thickened assembly provides additional structural depth and stiffness allowing for a greater span and weight capacity as compared to a typical reciprocal frame system. These studies would go on to help in the design of our final outdoor classroom.