Lincoln LogPavilion

"The Linoln Log Pavilion was developed by looking at a child's game and asking what we could do to maintain a playfulness with our research while reinvigorating a construction technique that has been lost.

This project was part of a research project developed from 2016-2021 that examined ways to rethink how to do timber construction in the 21st century. Digital tools have allowed us to approach milling and the processing of lumber differently than has been practiced for a century. On one side of the research was the exploration about the feasibility of mass customization to counteract the limitations of dimensioned lumber. Another branch of the research questioned how to push more recent developments in manufacturing such as CLT. The design research of the Lincoln Log Pavilion explored what could be created by combining multiple forms of timber production to create a hybrid strategy. The installation was designed to use Mass Timber to make a platform for a stage. Prototypes were milled and processed by our team from trees that the local municipality had donated. Other elements were designed to be fabricated with hollow, CNC-milled modules, that could be manufactured in our lab, shipped, and assembled on-site akin to flat-packed furniture that IKEA sells. This design research builds on work that has been done to push the potential of using off-the-shelf products (Eames, Hemingway), custom manipulation of plywood sheets (Menges, Retsin, KieranTimberlake), and Mass Timber (Rural Studio).

Beyond the technical material research, we also developed this proposal as a way to push civic engagement. The project was envisioned to be collectively constructed, deconstructed, and reconstructed. By creating a an architectural game, we thought we would be able to encourage people to think about architecture through a fun activity. A proposal such as this also hopes to bring parts of our history to light. Lincoln Logs are but a ghostly reminder of a lost construction technique that not only performed thermally, but prompted neighbors to work together to create their dwellings.