Flying Digital Timber

The Caschlatsch installation was errected end of summer in the grision mountains. The structure was designed and manufactured by participants of the MAS ETH DFAB with parametric tools and augmented reality. The project combines research projects of Gramazio Kohler Research, some of which were implemented for the first time. Consisting out of 2000 wooden beams, the transportation of the structure becomes a complex task.

Oliver Bucklin is the leader of the timber group at Gramazio Kohler research and coordinated the transport of the timber structure together with Michael Lyrenmann and the RFL team.

The individual wooden parts were put together in the RFL to form a cube-shaped assembly module consisting of around 25-50 pieces of wood. The structure was designed to be modular from the outset, as it would have been too large to be produced in one piece and could not have been transported in the usual lorry dimensions. The mode of transport was therefore decisive for the design.

The modules are prepared for transport in the RFL. Photo: Michael Lyrenmann

For transport, the assembly modules were grouped into 12 larger units and transported by road to the preparation site in Disentis. “You can imagine loading the three double lorries like a game of Tetris,” says Mike Lyrenmann. Once at the construction site in Disentis, 2-3 of these transport modules were assembled into air transport modules for short-distance helicopter transport.

A helicopter brings a module from the preparation site to the installation site for the final assembly. Photo: Michael Lyrenmann

Oliver Bucklin explains that the lifting points for the modules were calculated using a parametric tool. By determining the centre of gravity of the modules, stable and horizontal air transport could be guaranteed. Care was taken to ensure that as little air movement as possible was required. The modules were prepared in such a way that the helicopter could be hooked in and fly off. The structure was assembled in advance at the ETH for test purposes so that everything would fit during unloading. Finally, the strucutre was erected in the middle of the forest on the grounds of the Disentis Abbey and is accessible to hikers to explore.

The finished Caschlatsch structure can be climbed by curious visitors. Photo: Michael Lyrenmann

Project Credits
Caschlatsch, Installation, Disentis/Mustér, 2024
MAS Architecture and Digital Fabrication, ETH Zurich

Gramazio Kohler Research, ETH Zurich: Prof. Matthias Kohler, Prof. Fabio Gramazio, Dr. Petrus Aejmelaeus-Lindström (Projektleiter), Dr. Oliver Bucklin (Forschungsleiter), Ananya Kango, Simon Griffioen, Francesco Milano, Aurèle Gheyselinck, Alexandra Moisi, Joseph Kenny, Chen Kasirer, Gonzalo Casas

MAS ETH DFAB Students: Amir Ali Amini-Aghdam, Benhur Baiju, Chia-Hsuan Chao, Joana Francisco Tomaz, Hamid Peiro, Junjie Huang, Paul Jaeggi, Jiaxiang Luo, Giacomo Montiani, Wataru Nomura, Panayiotis Papacharalambous, Sukhdevsinh Parmar, Kevin Saev, Gonzalo Seminario Garcia, Megi Sinani, Namdev Talluru, Kai Hsun Yeh

In collaboration with: #dfdu AG (Stefan M. Seydel), Studio UH Architecs ETH SIA, Nicolas Fehlmann Ingénieurs Conseils SA

Client: Gemeinde Disentis/Mustér

Selected Experts: Bearth Lenn AG, Strabag AG Disentis/Mustér, Prof. Daniela Mitterberger (COMPAS_XR), Dr. Ziqi Wang (Task Sequencing and Allocation)

Sponsor: Schilliger Holz AG, Bearth Lenn AG, Strabag AG Disentis/Mustér, SFS Group Schweiz AG Bau & Holz