Timber Joints at the Aalto University Wood Program: Designing Through Experimentation

This article examines the role that joints have played in the work of the Wood Program and consider some of the solutions illustrated by specific projects designed and built by students at the university. The building projects analyzed vary widely in function, character and scale, but they share an important set of principles: each structure has been designed to be quickly, safely and reliably assembled on site then disassembled and rebuilt or recycled. The practical challenges of this mode of construction have led to an emphasis on prefabrication as well as careful attention to the ways that wooden components can be fixed and joined.