Demonstrating Mass Timber for a Circular Economy
Research Team:
Mariapaola Riggio
Nancy Cheng
Namhyuck Ahn
Project Duration:
2022-2025
2022-2025
Facilities:
A.A. “Red” Emmerson Advanced Wood Products Lab
Richardson Hall
Project Goal Statement
Funding from TDI’s ARS grant program enabled the extension of a series of design/build classes that provide a collaborative educational experience to OSU wood science and UO architecture students where they learn to apply integrated design approaches to the construction of a mass timber structure.
Introduction/Background
In the mass timber industry, integrated design and early collaboration have been highlighted as key strategies to support successful projects. Incorporating experience in collaborative design into the education of the next generation of mass timber professionals is one approach to developing this skillset in the mass timber workforce. The Timber Tectonics class, developed and run by Dr. Mariapaola Riggio and Dr. Nancy Cheng, brings together interdisciplinary groups of students and tasks them with designing, fabricating, and building a mass timber structure. In doing so, students learn foundational skills to carry forward with them into their careers.
Research Methods
Through collaboration with the University of Oregon’s Sustainable City Year program, each class has a client for whom they develop a “kit-of-parts”-type design through bottom-up methods of timber building that emphasize ease of fabrication and construction. The class also teaches circular economy principles, so strategies to use reclaimed materials and to enable easy disassembly and reuse of components are prioritized. From there, the students work as a team to bring their design from concept to reality.
Key Findings
This class provides a valuable opportunity for students to develop cross-disciplinary collaboration skills, utilise forward thinking design approaches, and gain valuable project-based experience.
Publications & Presentations (and/or Relevant Resources)
Timber Tectonics in the Digital Age. (2025, November 11). Timber Tectonics in the Digital Age. https://timbertectonics.com/
Riggio, M. (2025, October 16). Demonstrating Mass Timber for a Circular Economy. 2025 Mass Timber Research & Design Innovation Symposium, Corvallis, OR. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yH2MzPa2E8M
Funding & Acknowledgements
TDI ARS