About Vivianafulfuc
MArch 1 Student
Student Merging nature with advanced, man-made technology, my proposal uses the living trees as structural and sustainable columns.
The willow tree columns are able to adapt to the 21st Century challenges, such as flooding threats and non-renewable building resources, being able to sustain light-weight structures when reaching full grown maturity.
Living trees can take up to 45% dead load over their own weight without breaking, Given the trees have quite an unique growing pattern and there are unpredictable factors influencing their health, a 15% overload is regarded as a safety figure. (according to tree-house building regulations). Hence, adding an extra 15% to the tree weight results in 1.364 tonnes per tree- actual load that can be supported by the living structure.
A proposed living tree column, however, is to be formed of 19 trees, which means that the column’s overall’s weight is around 25.91 tonnes on its own. This is based on a mature living willow tree of 20 inch trunk width and 36 feet tall weights approximately
1.186 tonnes.
The column is to feature a temporary scaffolding structure that supports the rings beams on which the trees shall be fixed to. For the first 10 years( minimum), the temporary structure is expected to take the building load until the trees merge into a single, strong organism, able to take the lead themselves and support the building load.Using living trees to form structural columns might the future of using timber in architecture, having these structures that can adapt to particular climates and building surroundings. In addition, the living trees are approximately 3x stronger than cut wood. This way, the construction is simplified and improved at the same time. On top of that, the carbon emission is reduced due to less processing and increased oxygen production.
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