Wood Urbanism

Wood Urbanism: From the Molecular to the Territorial

Daniel Ibañez, Jane Hutton, Kiel Moe (Editors)

Wood holds unique and timely lessons for urbanization, yet it remains inadequately characterized in architecture, landscape architecture, and urbanism. From under-considered thermal properties to emerging manufacturing possibilities, from changing forestry regimes to larger carbon cycle dynamics, Wood Urbanism explores the unique material and scalar properties of wood, presenting it as a critical material for design today. It brings into conversation scholars and practitioners who focus on wood from a range of perspectives: from the working forest to the mid-rise building to the basic cell. Drawing from the inherent intelligence and depth of multiple disciplines, this book offers a transcalar perspective on the role of wood in contemporary urbanization: from the imperceptibly small to the confoundingly large.

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If one word jumps out throughout Wood Urbanism, it's not "wood" or "timber" or even "carbon." It's "trans-scalar." With a movement "from the molecular to the territorial," as the subtitle indicates, the book examines wood across multiple scales. To do so it must rely on the expertise of multiple disciplines: architects, landscape architects, and urban designers, for sure — this book came out of an event at Harvard GSD, after all — but also scientists, artists, photographers, and geographers. Fittingly, it is edited by an architect (Moe), an architect/urbanist (Ibañez), and a landscape architect (Hutton).

Wood Urbanism is organized through sixes. There are six chapters that follow the trans-scalar approach: Species, Carbon, Thermal, Ecology, Urbanism, and Metabolism. Each chapter is then broken down into six contributions: an Introduction by one of the editors; a Position piece by a relevant expert; a Case, Project, and Prospect, all basically short case studies; and a Visual Essay that articulates the scale in an unexpected way. With this structure, the 36 contributions to the hefty book are roughly equal parts technical, design, and eye candy. An illustrated glossary at the back of the book is the only departure from the six-by-six structure, one that defines concepts that emerged in the course of the book's research and creation.

Building in timber is not as simple as designing a form and then — harking back to my student days — selecting wood rather than steel and concrete. It is most successful when the design process involves a deep understanding of the material's behavior, chemistry, ecology, and so forth. Wood Urbanism is not a one-stop shop for architects interested in building with mass timber rather than steel and concrete, but the book's trans-scalar, trans-disciplinary approach makes it a must for any designer who wants a broad, intellectual understanding of the potentials of the most sustainable material around.

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