Timber Structures: Materials and Appropriate Design

Seminar

The interdisciplinary seminar " Timber Structures: Materials and Appropriate Design " covers the building material wood, the derived construction products, and their appropriate application. It addresses issues in timber construction and their backgrounds (hygroscopicity, anisotropy, heterogeneity, biological properties) and derives methods for developing robust and reliable timber construction details in practice.

Furthermore, it discusses typical load-bearing structures in timber construction, their load-bearing mechanisms, the necessary construction and connection elements, and their advantages and disadvantages. This includes examining various damage scenarios and their causes to prevent such damage in the future and to design durable constructions.

At the end of the semester, the theoretical foundations are applied in a series of practical workshops. The aim is to learn how to use hand tools such as saws, planes, chisels, and others, and to produce traditional carpentry joints.

This seminar serves in addition as preparation for the interdisciplinary design seminar “Interdisciplinary Structural Development in Timber Construction,” which is offered in the summer semester. 

1st meeting: Fri. 30.10.2026; 2:00 p.m.
Rule date: Fri. 2:00 p.m. – 5:15 p.m.
Location Lectures: Bldg. 10.50, R502
Location Workshop: WHS, Bldg. 06.34
Delivery/Examination: after announcement
Number of participants: 14