School of Architecture Lecture Series ~ Haptics of Place: Technologies, Assemblies and Spirit of Place
When
Where
Designing the Forest and Other Mass Timber Futures retraces wood’s passage from stewarded seed in the soil of forests, to harvested biomass, to laminated walls in a living room, through to its disassembly, pausing at each step in the supply chain of mass timber to consider the labor and economies involved, looking closely at the way wood is grown, sourced and transported, and its impacts on the biodiversity of the forest and the health of our ecosystems. It explores why historically entrenched contexts of extractivism make such sensitive approaches difficult to cultivate across landscapes and industrial frameworks. Along the way, common assumptions about mass timber are debunked, including its fire performance, its strength and its role in carbon sequestration. Having identified contemporary technical, cultural and spiritual gaps preventing the transition towards a fully timber-built environment, it outlines how we might move forward. A more sensitive species-based methodology is essential, with designers as choreographers of carbon, transferring and trading between forest, factory, site and beyond.
Join us in person for the Spring 2023 CAPLA / School of Architecture Lecture Series, in partnership with AIA Southern Arizona. Lunch will be provided.
About Lindsey Wikstrom
Lindsey Wikstrom is the founding principal of Mattaforma and an adjunct assistant professor at Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. She holds an M.Arch from Columbia University, where she was awarded the Charles McKim Prize, Visualization Award and Avery 6 Award. Lindsey is also the recipient of the SOM Prize. Her research focuses on the history of environmentalism and the trajectory of mass timber. Designing the Forest and Other Mass Timber Futures is her first book.
Header image, Constellation Collective, Kitchen View, courtesy Lindsey Wikstrom.
