Frameworks in Flexible Timber Design Systems Combining Mortise-Tenon Joints and Discrete Timber Blocks

Mortise-tenon joints (MTJs) have widely been used in traditional Chinese timber frames (TCTF) while rarely applied in contemporary design. This research investigates whether computational design of discrete architecture through employing the shape grammars approach allows for flexible timber architecture with MTJs to re-imagine the TCTF for contemporary architecture. Through critical analysis of a few available frameworks in timber design systems, this paper develops a new framework that combines MTJs and discrete timber blocks to generate architectural forms through rule-based shape grammars. To this end, this research initially explores the characteristics and importance of MTJs in TCTF, along with the potential of its application to contemporary architecture. It then analyses the reconfiguration of timber blocks with MTJs in discrete strategies. Further, it explores the applicability of parametric shape grammars in generating various architectural forms of discrete blocks with MTJs. Ultimately, this paper synthesizes the relevance of MTJs’ principles and modular system to discrete design strategies and shape grammars for the framework of a flexible timber design system. This system will create a hybrid design approach to timber design with MTJs for contemporary applications in further research.