Maestro, a new construction-technology startup born out of the design and innovation office CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati, is unveiling the prototype for “A.I. Timber,” a new method for sustainable cross-laminated timber (CLT) production that uses artificial intelligence to preserve the original contour of each tree.

Ratti, an architect, and professor and director of the M.I.T. Senseable City Lab at MIT, said that rather than reducing irregular trees into straight lines, Maestro uses A.I. and digital machining tools to scan a set of raw logs, flat saw them into boards, and identify the optimal sequence to fit them together. The process results in timber panels with boards that match one another like puzzle pieces, while shaving off as little of the tree as possible.

“Timber isn’t just a substitute for concrete; it unlocks new possibilities for prefabricated construction,” said Mykola Murashko, the 23-year-old Cambridge graduate who co-founded Maestro with Ratti. “Because engineered wood products are lightweight, renewable and dimensionally stable, we can design an entire building in our factory then ship the flatpack of its components to construction sites around the world. Maestro wants to revolutionize how we build, and that dream is rooted in innovations like A.I. Timber.”

The project’s first prototype is on display at an exhibition in Shanghai, China. The proof-of-concept structure, developed along with students and researchers from MIT and Tongji University, is on display at the “Digital Futures” exhibition in Shanghai until the fall.

Maestro is a newly-incorporated startup that aims to revolutionize the construction industry with bespoke prefabrication. After years of experiments in construction and building materials at CRA, Maestro uses technology to connect design and manufacturing, allowing a European supplier network to manufacture custom parts at a massive scale and create tailor-made, shippable buildings from scratch. This method promises to make building better, faster, and greener than ever before.

“Wood is one of the oldest building materials we have, and A.I. is letting us use it more sustainably,” said Ratti. “A.I. could reduce wood waste in cross-laminated timber (CLT) production by up to 30%, but that’s only one of the benefits. It’s also beautiful: the irregular geometry celebrates the original shape of the tree. We are using the artificial to bring out the brilliance of the natural.”

Ratti has been known for working on ways to reduce wood waste that goes into the waste stream. For instance, his firm worked with Gruppo Saviola, a company that uses 100% recycled wood in such items as particleboard panels, on a cubical structure called 'Wood You Believe?' that used 4 tons of wood waste in its construction.