JOYNERY BASED DEPLOYABLE STRUCTURE

…is a project stands at the intersection of tradition and modernity. The Joinery Based Deployment Structure is a CNC produced structure that doesn’t look like a run-of-the-mill “CNC produced structure”. It is an occupiable space which has a range of potential uses; from a backyard writing studio, to guest house, to an off-the-grid lake side cabin. Through the synthesis of traditional Japanese joinery adaptations and CNC fabrication methods, we arrive at a structure that has an old world soul and a new age aesthetic that can be produced by any local “Digital Fabrication” shop popping up all over the world. The crux of the design is the use of laminated “complex” parts over the “complicated” solid timber members. In the production of large scale CNC timber joinery you need specialized machines (such as Hundegger, and Marunaka CNC) to do produce parts. These machines are multi-axis, highly specialized to particular methods, and cost beyond most but the fabrication shops that specialize in large scale timber construction. They use either indexable profiled cutters or multiple, multi-axis tools to achieve their ends. But this structure’s “complex” parts are different. Complicated joinery is broken down into simplified portions that, when laminated together, form the complex joinery that makes up the JBDS. All component assemblies have been designed and optimized so that they can be cut from sheets of 4ft x SH x 3/4in sheet stock such as marine grade Fir Plywood(7 plys) or Baltic Birch Plywood (13 plys). This means that all part assemblies can be easily produced in a singular and highly adaptable CNC machine such as a large format CNC router. Just throw a sheet on, suck it down and cut parts out…repeat as needed. Because of the CNC machining fabrication method, all component parts and assemblies of the JBDS can be prefabricated and test fit before it ever leaves the shop. Component parts can be cut and assembled by any local Digital Fabrication with CNC router capabilities and then taken directly to the structures intended site. And because the structure follows traditional Japanese methods of interlocking joinery with secondary reinforcement of wood dowels or hardware, component assemblies go together without the need of electrical tools, just mallets and friends. And if the need arises, the structure can then be back taken apart down to its component pieces and moved to a new location or to replace assemblies that become damaged or worn. This is in fact the method used in contemporary Japanese temple restoration. Whole temples are dismantled; rotten or broken members are replaced with new ones alongside old ones; and then reassembled. All built to last for another 500 years. It is the intent of this proiect to bring the ideals of Craftsmanship, detail, material efficiency, and tool utilization back to the world of Digital Fabrication, and it is the CNC routers high repeatable accuracy, lean production capability, adaptability in job setup, and scalable manufacturing output that makes it possible.