Woven Biogenic Beam
Ian McKernan
Royal Danish Academy – Architecture, Design and Conservation
The Woven Biogenic Beam project explores a lowcarbon alternative to the reinforced concrete commonly used in construction across Mérida and the Yucatán Peninsula. It was developed in response to concrete’s high embodied carbon while drawing from the region’s traditional Mayan construction practices, which use locally available materials such as reeds, timber, earth and plant fibers. The research identified a lack of local biogenic alternatives for structural beams and therefore reinterpreted the woven logic of traditional bajaerque construction into a contemporary structural system. The prototype uses locally sourced reeds and henequen fiber arranged in layered woven patterns that respond to the tension and compression forces within a beam. A modular CNC cut plywood jig with an adjustable triangular grid was designed to facilitate the weaving process while allowing the system to adapt to variations in locally available materials. The project ultimately explores how vernacular knowledge, local materials and contemporary structural principles can be combined to create a more site-specific and low-carbon approach to construction.