WasteWood – Seminar

Introduction to the potentials of a left-over resource used in building design. The seminar will be held in English.

Waste wood is a term that can be perceived as wood that is unusable, thus is to be wasted. In many cases waste wood is left over (new) wood that because of its geometry and sizes is not utilised but instead goes to waste. In other occasions waste wood refers to reclaimed wood that has already been part of a building structure or element that, although used is in a good enough state and has the potential to be reused.

In many cases unfortunately waste wood – whether new off cuts or reclaimed – is burned. This is because of lack of examples showing the viability for further use, increased design complexity, uncertainty of quality, limiting regulations and the (lack for) acceptance of a different aesthetic expression.

Typically, trees take 50-80 years to reach maturity, yet when burning wood elements they release very fast the captured carbon. In the context of the climate crisis, wood is a very precious material and one that should not be wasted but utilised through a multicity of extended lives – not only because of its ability to store carbon but also because it is a natural, renewable material that takes a long time to grow to maturity.

The course was developed in a collaboration between the Royal Danish Academy and the Danish Association of Architects.

Content

Historic vernacular architecture is based on building with local and reclaimed materials where nothing was wasted. Although not in abundance, current architectural research and practice can point to emerging examples of building with reclaimed wood, showing the viability and potential.

The seminar will introduce the participants to a range of perspectives: opportunities and challenges of Waste wood systems through built examples.

Among the topics are:
Fire and biobased solutions – from vernacular to contemporary
Long-span structures
Cutting edge digital tools enabling a waste wood design practice
Design task – groupwork and presentation
Discussions and shared reflections

Outcome

Globally if we continue to burn wood, we will not have enough wood, and the alternative will be to continue to utilise steel and concrete as main building materials.
During the Waste Wood-seminar a design perspective will be explored through lectures, discussions and design exercises. You will have the opportunity to learn about the potentials and challenges of working with waste wood in a building design context.

Lecturers

Olga Popovic Larsen – professor
Magnus Nilsson – adjunkt
Xan Browne – adjunkt
Tom Svilans – postdoc
Johannes Schotanus – studielektor
Sander Løkkegaard Benner – PhD candidate

All from the Royal Danish Academy - Institute of Architecture and Technology