1. Workshop name  |工作营名字

Equilibrium-Driven Circular Timber Tectonics

平衡驱动的循环建造

 

2. Four keywords | 关键词

Graphic Statics, Circular Construction, Timber Structure, Reversible Connections, Computational Design

图解静力学，循环建造，木结构，可拆卸节点，计算性设计

 

3. Required skills | 技能要求

Proficient in Rhinoceros 3D and Grasshopper

熟练使用 Rhinoceros 3D及 grasshopper

 

4. Required software |软件需求

Rhino 8

 

 

5. Required hardware | 硬件需求

A Windows laptop computer

Windows 系统笔记本电脑

 

6. Maximum number of participating students | 最大参与人数

12

 

7. Description |  工作营简介

Timber construction is increasingly positioned as a key pathway toward low-carbon architecture, yet most current design workflows still rely on idealized material assumptions and linear fabrication logic. In circular construction, designers must work with reclaimed and non-standard materials whose dimensions and quantities are fixed in advance. This raises a fundamental question: how can architectural design achieve a balance between structural efficiency, material availability, and environmental impact?

This workshop addresses this question by exploring structural equilibrium as a generative principle for circular timber design. The workshop introduces Vector-based Graphic Statics (VGS) as an intuitive design method that reveals the relationship between form and force, allowing participants to develop geometries with clear load paths and efficient structural behavior. At the same time, participants will work with inventory-constrained design strategies in which available timber stock becomes a direct input to the design process. Through simplified embodied carbon and material-efficiency analyses, the workshop demonstrates how structural performance and sustainability can be considered simultaneously.

To bridge structural performance with environmental responsibility, simplified evaluation metrics such as material utilization and embodied carbon are integrated into the design workflow. This establishes a continuous feedback loop between structural efficiency and ecological impact, allowing participants to compare and refine multiple design alternatives in a data-informed yet design-driven manner.

By the end of the workshop, participants will develop a series of timber design iterations and compare them using structural and environmental criteria. Participants will build and test physical prototypes to investigate structural behavior, assembly logic, and material performance, allowing feedback from material reality to inform design decisions. The workshop provides a new design framework in which equilibrium is understood not only as a structural condition, but also as a means of balancing resources, performance, and ecological responsibility.

木结构建筑正日益被视为实现低碳建筑的关键路径，然而当前多数设计流程仍依赖于理想化的材料假设与线性的加工逻辑。在循环建造中，设计师必须面对回收再利用及非标准构件——其尺寸与数量均为预先确定。这引出了一个根本性问题：建筑设计如何在结构效率、材料可得性与环境影响之间取得平衡？

本工作坊以结构平衡作为循环木构设计的生成性原则，直面这一挑战。工作坊将介绍基于矢量的图解静力学（VGS）作为一种直观的设计方法，揭示形式与力之间的互动关系，使参与者能够发展出传力路径清晰、结构行为高效的几何形态。与此同时，参与者将采用受库存约束的设计策略，将现有木材库存直接转化为设计输入。通过简化的隐含碳与材料效率分析，工作坊展示了结构性能与可持续性如何被同时考量。

为连通结构性能与环境责任，材料利用率与隐含碳等简化评估指标被直接整合进设计流程。这在结构效率与生态影响之间建立起持续的反馈回路，使参与者能够以数据支撑、设计主导的方式，对多种设计方案进行比较与优化。

工作坊结束时，参与者将完成一系列木构设计迭代，并依据结构与环境的综合指标加以比较。参与者将搭建并测试实体原型，以探究结构行为、装配逻辑与材料性能，让来自材料现实的反馈直接指导设计决策。本工作坊提供了一种全新的设计框架：平衡不再仅仅被理解为一种结构状态，更是一种统筹资源、性能与生态责任的方法。

8. Bios of Instructors

Hua Chai, Associate Professor at the College of Architecture and Urban Planning (CAUP), Tongji University. He serves as a Committee Member of the Computational Design Academic Committee of the Architectural Society of China, and as the Managing Editor of Architectural Intelligence journal. He was a recipient of the China National Postdoctoral Program for Innovative Talents and the Shanghai Super Postdoctoral Incentive Plan. He has long been engaged in research on the computational design and robotic construction of innovative timber structures. He has led research projects including a Young Scientist Fund of National Natural Science Foundation of China, a sub-project of the National Key R&D Program of China, and a General Project of the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation. He has published over 30 papers and holds  4 invention patents. He has received the Young CAADRIA Award from the Association for Computer-Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia and the DigitalFUTURES Young Award.

柴华，同济大学建筑与城市规划学院副教授，中国建筑学会计算性设计学术委员会委员，Architectural Intelligence期刊执行编辑；入选“博新计划”、上海市“超级博士后”等人才计划。长期从事木结构建筑的计算性设计与机器人建造方法研究。主持国家自然科学基金青年项目、国家重点研发计划二级课题、博士后基金面上资助等科研项目。发表论文30余篇，获批发明专利4项；获评亚洲计算机辅助建筑设计协会Young CAADRIA Award、数字未来协会DigitalFUTURES Young Award等个人荣誉。

Yu Li is a postdoctoral researcher at the College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University. His research fields cover topology optimization, performance‑based structural design and intelligent construction. He originally proposed the multi‑material bidirectional evolutionary structural optimization (Multi‑material BESO) method. His research achievements have been successfully applied to projects including the Xiongdianjian Smart City · "Wings of Xiongan", the Kuizhou Yangtze River Bridge in Chongqing (the world’s largest‑span half‑through network arch bridge), and the Chongming High‑Speed Railway Station in Shanghai. He has been selected for the National Funded Postdoctoral Researcher Program and Shanghai Super Postdoctoral Incentive Program.

李瑜，同济大学建筑与城市规划学院博士后研究员。研究领域为拓扑优化、结构性能化设计和智能建造，原创提出拉压多材料双向渐进结构优化（Multi-material BESO）方法，研究成果已成功应用于雄安电建智慧城·“雄安之翼”、重庆夔州长江大桥（世界最大跨度中承式网状拱桥）、上海崇明高铁站等项目。入选国家资助博士后研究人员计划及上海市“超级博士后”激励计划。

 

Philip F. Yuan is Dean of the College of Architecture and Urban Planning at Tongji University, He is Editor-in-Chief of Architectural Intelligence, Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (Hon.FAIA), and council member of the UIA-PPC. He has been a visiting professor at MIT and RMIT, and Thomas Jefferson Chair Professor at UVA. His awards include multiple provincial and ministerial Science and Technology Progress Awards, the UIA Auguste Perret Award, the ACADIA Academic Innovation Award, the AIA Honor Award for Architecture, UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conserevation, the Asian Architectural Association’s Sustainability Special Award, and the RIBA Asia-Pacific AI Powered Design Award.

 

袁烽 Philip F. Yuan

袁烽教授现任同济大学建筑与城市规划学院院长，同时担任 Architectural Intelligence 主编、美国建筑师协会荣誉会士（Hon. FAIA），以及国际建筑师协会职业实践委员会（UIA-PPC）理事。他曾任麻省理工学院、皇家墨尔本理工大学访问教授，以及弗吉尼亚大学 Thomas Jefferson 讲席教授。

他曾获得多项省部级科学技术进步奖、UIA 奥古斯特·佩雷奖、ACADIA 学术创新奖、AIA 建筑荣誉奖、联合国教科文组织亚太地区文化遗产保护奖、亚洲建筑师协会可持续发展特别奖，以及 RIBA 亚太地区 AI 赋能设计奖等奖项。

 

Sylvain Rasneur

Sylvain Rasneur2012毕业于UCLouvain，获得工程建筑师学位。他曾与建筑事务所合作建造医院和火车站。与此同时，Sylvain在Solvay Brussels School Economics & Management完成了房地产高管项目，于2014年6月获得优秀奖（第一）。自2016年以来，Sylvain一直在UCLouvain的建筑系任教。他还是Prof. Zastavni团队的研究员，就图形静力学作为分析复杂形状的工具进行博士研究。Sylvain还是一家建筑事务所的经理，该事务所于2021年由他创立，主要活跃于瓦隆区域。

Sylvain Rasneur is Engineer Architect graduated from the UCLouvain in 2012. He collaborated with architectural offices for the construction of hospitals and train stations. At the same time, Sylvain completed an Executive Program in Real Estate at the Solvay Brussels School Economics & Management which ended in June 2014 with the awarding of the 1st Excellence Prize. Since 2016, Sylvain has been teaching at the architecture department of UCLouvain. He is also researcher in the team of Prof. Zastavni, in the Structures & Technologies LAB where he is developing a PhD on graphic statics as a tool for analysing complex shapes.Sylvain is also the manager of an architecture office that he founded in 2021, centered on the Walloon territory.

 

Victor Benetreau

Victor Bénétreau 于2025年毕业于新鲁汶大学（UCLouvain），获建筑师学位，此前曾在法国义务与游历行会（Compagnons du Devoir et du Tour de France）接受木工培训。他的背景融合了实地建造经验、建筑设计与木结构应用研究，尤其关注生物基材料、参数化设计与数字化建造。他的硕士论文源于在洛桑联邦理工学院（EPFL）IBOIS实验室的实习经历，期间他从事圆木参数化设计方面的研究。该项目探索如何通过数字化设计流程将工业级木材升级为结构材料，该流程整合了森林资源、可用木材的几何形态与建筑设计。此项荣获2026年HERA可持续建筑奖的研究，探索了基于本地及未充分利用资源的圆木结构潜力。Victor 现任 Hout Info Bois 研究员，致力于小径级硬木的结构化增值利用研究。2026年，他加入 Denis Zastavni 教授的"结构与技术"研究单元，担任科研合作人员，专注于楼板系统的多准则分析。

Victor Bénétreau graduated as an architect from UCLouvain in 2025 and previously trained as a timber carpenter with the Compagnons du Devoir et du Tour de France. His background combines hands-on construction experience, architectural design, and applied research on timber structures, with a particular interest in bio-based materials, parametric design, and digital fabrication. His master’s thesis grew out of an internship at EPFL’s IBOIS laboratory, where he worked on parametric design with roundwood. The project investigates how industrial-grade wood can be upgraded into structural material through a digital design workflow linking forest resources, the geometry of available timber, and architectural design. Awarded the HERA Award for Sustainable Architecture in 2026, this work explores the potential of roundwood structures based on local and underused resources. Victor is a research officer at Hout Info Bois, where he works on the structural valorisation of small-diameter hardwoods. In 2026, he joined Prof. Denis Zastavni’s Structures & Technologies research unit as a scientific collaborator, focusing on the multicriteria analysis of floor systems.

 

Denis Zastavni

Denis Zastavni是比利时天主教鲁汶大学景观、建筑、建筑环境研究所[LAB]和天主教鲁汶大学建筑、建筑工程和城市化学院 [LOCI] 的教授。他作为结构工程师和建筑师工作了十多年，他的博士论文是关于Robert Maillart的设计方法，并在2008年获得Edoardo Benvenuto奖。他的主要著作是关于结构设计、结构教学中的教学方法和Robert Maillart的设计。他和他的团队目前的研究重点是结构设计方法和工具、历史结构的分析、结构设计的历史、图形静力学、木结构以及深入研究Robert Maillart的结构设计方法。

 

Denis Zastavni is an Engineer Architect and Professor in the Louvain research institute for Landscape, Architecture, Built environment [LAB] and at the Faculty of Architecture, Architectural Engineering and Urbanism [LOCI] of the UCLouvain in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. He has first worked as a structural engineer and architect for over a decade. His PhD was on Robert Maillart’s design methods and won the Premio Edoardo Benvenuto in 2008. His main publications are on structural design, pedagogical approaches in teaching structure, and Robert Maillart’s designs. With his team, his current research is focused on structural design approaches and tools, analysis of historical structures, history of the design of structures, graphic statics, timber constructions and on deepening his knowledge of Robert Maillart’s structural methods.

         

9.Workshop daily schedule  | 日程安排

Day #	Time	Content
Day 1: June 27	8am - 5pm	Student Check-in & Workshop Introduction & Tutorials 工作营报到注册、工作营内容介绍及培训
Day 2: June 28	9am - 5am	Teaching: Vector-based Graphic Statics (VGS) & Force-Informed Geometry 教学内容：基于矢量的图解静力学与结构几何
Day 3: June 29	9am - 5am	Inventory-Constrained Design & Material Allocation 库存约束设计方法
Day 4: June 30	9am - 5am	Environmental Impact Assessment 环境影响评估方法
Day 5: July 1	9am - 5am	Design Development 设计研发
Day 6: July 2	9am - 5am	Physical Prototyping / Fabrication 实体原型搭建
Day 7: July 3	9am - 5am	Physical Prototyping / Fabrication 实体原型搭建
Day 8: July 4	9am - 5am	Final presentation/ exhibition opening 终期汇报和展览开幕
Day 9: July 5	9am - 5am	Closing ceremony 工作营闭幕式