Fibre Form Folds
Fibre Form Folds, a generatively designed physical prototype utilizing agricultural hemp byproducts and a parametric kerf definition system
Role
In this research project, I played a significant role in bridging computational design with physical production. I played the computational lead and one of two inaugurals members of the Regenerative Structures Lab with its founder Dr. Juney Lee. Lead prototyping and final outputs for UV unwrapping, kerf generation, toolpath generation, and fabrication of the full-scale prototype. Conducted hydraulic bending and compression tests in conjunction with the civil engineering department at CMU and coauthored the paper for SBE Zurich. My work was crucial in testing the feasibility of the kerf-bending technique and realizing the full-scale demonstrator structure, ensuring the successful execution from digital model to tangible object.
Regenerative Structures Laboratory
With the construction industry facing a critical need to reduce its environmental impact, particularly its embodied carbon, this project sought to explore the potential of regenerative materials in structural applications. We focused on compressed hemp fibre boards, a sustainable alternative to conventional engineered wood that avoids harmful adhesives and supports circular resource flows. Despite having compressive strengths comparable to plywood, these boards have been underutilized structurally. Our prompt was to demonstrate a practical pathway for using hemp boards in load-bearing roles by integrating advanced computational design—specifically 3D graphic statics to create compression-only forms —with efficient digital fabrication techniques like kerf cutting, thereby showcasing a more sustainable approach to structural design.
This proposal establishes the “Regenerative Structures Laboratory” at Carnegie Mellon Architecture. In order to address the greater challenges of climate change, this cutting-edge lab aims to propel the construction industry from a sustainable (minimizing harmful impact of future construction) to a more regenerative (maximizing positive impact to offset emissions from both past and future construction) design paradigm. The transdisciplinary research at the lab across the areas of 1) artificial-intelligence-driven computational structural design; 2) regenerative, renewable and circular materials; and 3) sustainable construction methods, are united by an effort to design and materialize building structures – the largest contributor to a building’s embodied energy – more responsibly through emerging digital technologies that are scalable and accessible to a broader range of social and economic contexts.
Tech
• Computational Design - We utilized 3D Polyhedral Graphic Statics & the COMPAS framework
• Digital Fabrication - Programmed and iteratively tested various approaches for CNC processing a novel material
• Material Testing - Conducted scientifically validated materials testing on LHB, OHB, Plywood, and OSB
This paper presents an investigation into using compressed hemp fibre boards (LHB) as a viable, load-bearing structural material. We first conducted material characterization tests, establishing that LHB offers compressive strength comparable to standard plywood. We then detailed an integrated workflow, starting with 3D polyhedral graphic statics to design a compression-only, spatially expressive form. This geometric form was then translated into flat-pack components using V-shaped kerf cutting, a technique allowing flat boards to be bent into curved surfaces using standard 2.5-axis CNC routing. The paper describes the digital fabrication process and the assembly of a full-scale prototype using dry, reversible connections. We concluded that LHB is a promising structural alternative, though challenges in material consistency and connection design remain for future work.
