Urging industry to make better use of wood that’s wasted or burned for energy, researchers have released the first structural tests of non-straight, forked and double-curved roundwood logs used as columns.
In his mission to normalise the use of ‘misfit wood’, Aalto University architect and researcher Jaakko Torvinen (pictured above) has shown how standard, business-as-usual calculation methods can predict load-bearing capacity for organically shaped logs. It’s actually a pretty simple equation that can be used to gauge its load-bearing capacity, says Torvinen. What’s surprising is that nobody has done this earlier.
According to Torvinen, for centuries, the timber and construction industries have been tied to the assumption that the best material is used for saw logs. ‘We’re so used to thinking in terms of standardised planks or beams,’ he says. ‘This explains why nobody has ever looked at a tree trunk and come up with an algorithm to gauge its strength.’
The result is a level of material wastage that Torvinen finds shocking. ‘If it’s not suitable as saw logs, it goes to pulpwood or energy wood,’ he explains. ‘But our assumption that “generic is best” is old-school thinking – and we’re wasting way too much good wood.’
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Torvinen’s latest research is one step towards helping cut the millions of tonnes of imperfect wood that go to the scrap heap, instead of into use as functional, economically viable and aesthetically desirable options in construction. In presenting the first-ever load tests on organically shaped roundwood columns (curved, double-curved or forked raw wood) from trees that would usually be deemed unfit for dressing, the study initially shows that current, typical methods can be used also for calculating their load-bearing capacity.
Combined with digital design and fabrication methods, such studies open up opportunities to utilise overlooked materials in new ways, says Torvinen. The end goal is to reduce the obstacles to mass-customisation being a realistic and financially viable option for the industry. ‘Using standard timber only is something that cash-strapped consumers are ready to abandon. So I want to clear the path to industry embracing the possibilities of misfit wood too,’ he says.
Torvinen’s high profile list of recent projects is testament to the visual appeal of using knotty, forked, or charred misfit pillars and whole-tree elements. The architect was responsible for the hauntingly beautiful outlines of Helsinki’s temporary Pikku Finlandia building and his architecturally atmospheric testament to slow-living, Puusauna, earned a prestigious 2026 Wallpaper* Design Award.
He hopes that his latest paper complements these stunning examples of misfit wood’s aesthetic potential by providing the first practical calculations to take us one step closer to recognising its viability in construction.
‘In future projects, when a designer or client wants misfit wood in a building, it won’t be laughed at as an icebreaker, but considered as a legitimate design proposal like any other,’ says Torvinen.
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Torvinen’s Puusauna will form part of Aalto University’s Designs for a Cooler Planet 2026 exhibition in Helsinki, which will run from 1 September to 30 October 2026.
The research has been published in Wood Material Science and Engineering.