Trees Time Architecture! exhibition

| Lukas Allner

This was our contribution to Trees Time Architecture! at the Architekturmuseum der TUM, Pinakotheken der Moderne, Munich.

For the exhibition, a previously developed workflow was adapted to a new context and configuration.

Collection of branch parts provided by Habsburg-Lothringisches Gut Persenbeug in Ybbs.
Inventory of branches at the Angewandte prepared for 3D scanning.
Size comparison of prototype designs, 2019(left), 2021(middle), and 2025(right)
3D model prepared for robotic fabrication.
Prefab joints using shrink-wrapped PET bottles, and assembly joint connecting prefab modules.

This was the exhibition text:

Can the intricate structures that arise from tree growth be directly utilized in construction? Is it possible to use them as they are found in nature – rather than being cut into linear, right-angled elements or processed into wood composites as is common practice?
The installation “Branch Formations III” is based on the results of the artistic research project “Conceptual Joining – Wood Structures from Detail to Utopia” (2017–2021). Branch junctions were 3D scanned and connected using robotically fabricated joints to form an architectural structure. In other words, parts of a tree that are normally considered waste in conventional timber construction are used, and the specific internal structures of the branching points are deliberately employed to form high-performance joints.