Studio works with visiting scholar to test innovative fabrication techniques

A group of graduate students in the School of Architecture and Planning recently gathered in Parker Hall with faculty member Nicholas Bruscia to showcase the early progress of their Fall 2025 design research studio, which is testing mixed-reality fabrication techniques for architectural applications.

The studio welcomed visiting scholar Lukas Kirschnick, a research associate at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Germany, whose expertise in repurposing leftover round timber has been a key part of the research effort.

“Lukas generously shared his ongoing research and challenged the studio to engage with metal casting using digitally fabricated molds, a topic that was new to us,” said Bruscia, assistant professor of architecture. “His approach to reusing discarded timber is unique, and our group project would not have been possible without his involvement.”

This timber, once likely to be discarded as firewood, was salvaged from the properties of a UB student and a professor. Now, it’s being reimagined as a valuable architectural resource. 

Using a wide array of digital and analog tools in the school’s Fabrication Workshop, the group has been working to develop a set of custom, cast aluminum connections for the timber using 3D scanning, computational modeling and a variety of digital fabrication tools and methods.

Those aluminum connections were constructed by first shaping foam with a CNC (computer numerical control) machine and then placing those figures into plywood boxes filled with sand. In furnaces set up outside Parker, the students poured molten metal into the molds, vaporizing the foam, which escaped as a gas.

Emily Hill from Hillpoint Scanning took 3D scans of the tree branches to enable fastening of the metal components and demonstrated that process to the studio.

“Much was learned throughout the week-long workshop, and the students met the challenge with enthusiasm and optimistic problem-solving,” Bruscia said. “We’re currently working on a structure that will incorporate a variety of cast aluminum connection types and developing a design-to-production process that integrates 3D-scan data, physics-based form finding, 3D printing and sand casting.”

Mixed reality will also be employed in the assembly of a small structure consisting of the unprocessed logs and the metal connections to demonstrate and study the workflow.

This innovative work is supported by a Global Research Scholar in Residence Grant from UB’s Office of International Education awarded to Bruscia and Mark Shepard, professor of architecture and media study. The award is designed to support collaborative international research on critical global issues.