Rethinking Discarded Timber: Material Intelligence and Regenerative Tectonics Part 2 Dissertation 2026 Tianyi GaoYalei ZhuYiting Sun Tongji University | China Rethinking Discarded Timber examines a contradiction at the centre of contemporary timber construction. Wood is promoted as renewable, but construction systems accept only a narrow range of straight, uniform and predictable products. Storm-felled trunks, curved branches, short sections and recovered members are often discarded even when they retain structural and cultural value.The dissertation asks how architecture can work with this existing material before turning to further extraction. It develops the idea of material intelligence: the capacity to recognise difference, judge what a piece can safely do, and carry its identity into future uses. Digital surveying, material libraries and robotic fabrication are considered as architectural tools that connect irregular timber to specific structural, spatial and construction roles.The research is tested through three projects. The Meditation Chair relates branch geometry to bodily support. The Tree Fork Tower organises naturally bifurcated pieces into a collective frame. The CO-POIESIS Pavilion transforms storm-felled logs from Shanghai into a reciprocal structure and layered enclosure that can be dismantled and reassembled.The work proposes a regenerative approach in which a building becomes a temporary arrangement within a longer material history. Its originality lies in bringing environmental responsibility, digital design and timber craft into one design method. Technology is used to preserve material capacity, make difference constructible and leave future transformation possible. Tutor(s) Philip F Yuan