A series of interviews conducted by LJLAB and Distant Realities to track the lifecycle of trees: from the moment land is purchased to allow tree growth, over logging, to when creatives build wooden architectural structures and design furniture.
Our web report highlights the often hidden processes behind everyday wood-based products, such as architectural structures, furniture, and garden plants. The platform’s educational interface fosters citizen engagement and informs other woodworking creatives about sustainable sourcing, recycling, and innovative building practices.
Through this international collaboration, we delve into the intricacies of wood material cycles and the wood value chain, presenting the stories of researchers, craftsmen, and other stakeholders. The online format of the report allows us to share our findings globally, making the science and artistry of woodworking accessible and engaging to a diverse worldwide audience.
Interviewees
Heidi Merrild (Aarhus, DK)
Xan Browne (Copenhagen, DK)
Jaakko Torvinen (Aalto, FI)
Jakob Husemann (Berlin, DE)
Rob Gorski (Calumet, MI, USA)
Researchers
Lynn Hyun Kieffer (Aarhus, DK)
Jakob Sieder-Semlitsch (Aarhus, DK)
Marine Lemarié (Berlin, DE)
Nicolas Stephan (Berlin, DE)
Project Period
01/12/2023 - 30/07/2024
Funding
Globus Opstart / Nordisk Kulturfond
“ Many customers want to see a [FSC] label. Then you have to say from the start that it might become more expensive because of this. But you can always ask. ”
- Jakob Husemann
Noibau uses various types of wood, primarily differentiating between solid wood and engineered wood products like plywood and particle board. Depending on the project’s requirements, they would choose different types of wood, as it has distinct properties. Common regional woods include pine, spruce, and larch, which are prevalent in Berlin due to historical reforestation efforts after the Thirty Years' War. These softwoods were mostly grown for economic reasons back then because:
“Softwoods grow much faster than hardwoods but do not create diverse forests. These are the forests you see here (around Berlin). These forests are highly susceptible to diseases, such as wood beetles and so on.”
When it comes to sourcing wood, smaller firms like Noibau generally buy from wood merchants who sell to commercial customers. Large firms might directly source from sawmills, getting better prices due to bulk purchasing. Noibau sometimes also bypasses intermediaries by directly contacting sawmills. Jakob explains that even a small company can source wood directly from a sawmill by being strategic. He mentions that they have done this themselves, emphasizing the importance of networking and making inquiries to locate the right suppliers. The wood they use usually carries certifications such as the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) seal, signifying sustainable forestry practices, which is often what customers look for:
“Many customers want to see a label. Then you have to say from the start that it might become more expensive because of this. But you can always ask. You can always find a dealer who can prove where the wood comes from.”
Even with an FSC certificate, the transparency of the supply chain is limited. The firm avoids tropical woods because of their environmental impact, but they also note that you can never be certain if they have been mixed with other types of wood:
“To be honest, with all the pressed wood, there is this FSC label on it, but it's not like with tree trunks, you can't really see where the individual logs come from. Especially with the composite ones... Yes, well, there could probably be a tree from the tropics. That should be avoided, but of course we don't know. Okay, and now, how realistic is it for a small architecture firm to pay attention to where it really comes from and whether it's good for the environment or not?”
Noibau predominantly uses new wood because recycling old wood, especially engineered wood products, is labor-intensive and often impractical. Old wood panels might be too damaged or cut into sizes that do not fit new projects efficiently. Solid wood furniture, which is durable, rarely returns to the recycling market as it tends to be used for generations. However, Noibau does repurpose leftover wood pieces for smaller projects:
“What we recycle are the so-called leftovers, which may seem like waste but can still be used for other smaller projects. For example, we once had the idea of building a children's kitchen. This is relatively small-scale, and you can use many leftovers, solid wood remnants and board remnants.”
Noibau also explores the reuse of structural elements. For instance, they once incorporated second-hand plastic windows into a tiny house project2 to cut costs:
“We built a tiny house, not on wheels, but a small house in a garden settlement. The customer had a limited budget, and we tried to save costs in various areas. One point was the windows, as wooden windows are extremely expensive, we quickly turned to recycled plastic windows and checked if some companies in the area offered them. These are mainly carpentries that remove the windows, store them in their yard, and sell them. These plastic windows cost a fraction of new windows. I think we spent 1000 euros for three balcony doors and four to five windows. They work just as well as before, are a bit dirty, need a long cleaning, but I think that would also work very well for wooden windows.”
While recycling wooden windows is more complicated due to potential decay, wooden doors and decorative wooden elements can be more readily reused. Noibau also built pavilions designed for easy disassembly and reassembly at different locations, in an effort to extend the life of their creations. The firm is conscious of sustainability, considering how materials can be repurposed and striving to use FSC certified and local wood to minimize transportation impact.
(interview translated from German)
2 See the tiny house project here
“As architects, we have to work harder on understanding the different qualities and the different aspects of forestry and how you can use parts of the forestry.”
-Heidi Merrild
Heidi Merrild is an architect who is deeply rooted in both academia and practice. She has been teaching at the Aarhus School of Architecture, where she is also currently finishing her PhD1. She works between physical prototypes and theoretical research which aims towards a re-understanding of pre-modern ways of building through a new way of understanding architecture and materials as layers, connections and cycles.
Her work includes research on reversibility of architectural products through prolongation of material lifecycles, which she sees strongly connected to material visibility and readability of construction layers. She opposes modern building techniques, where all components are “casted, glued or compressed into a wall where [you] no longer see [them]”. Questioning how all elements of the constructed entity can be redefined in layers and how their “cycles are reflected in the way we layer the materials in architecture”. With this she bridges between initial growth cycles of the plant, which provides the material to build with, life cycles of those materials and usage cycles defined by the human participant. Recategorizing architecture into layers of temporalities. Heidi illustrates this understanding of layers through a tree trunk, where the core is the structural part and the outer layers of the tree which have different functions as the lighter and more permeable ones.
“[...] we need to rethink and find new ways of connecting materials in terms of the tectonics. And it's not only that, but it's also an architecture that is readable and not as we see in more modern construction, where everything is sort of either casted, glued or compressed into a wall where [you] no longer see the tectonics or the structural elements anymore, so it's more like one surface and one wall that contains all of the structural elements. I am trying to define the structural elements in layers and not only the structural elements but all the layers are sort of investigating how the cycles are reflected in the way we are layering the materials in architecture. [...]
Of course, this demands that we use materials that are within that framework of a short cycle on the sacrificial layer, meaning all parts of that layer need to address that short cycle, and that's the sort of idea behind that. The layers reflect the cycles of the materials and use the functions. “
“[…] flax [which] has a very short [growth] cycle, that's about 120 days, and that informs us that this is a possible sacrificial layer so we can actually throw it out after perhaps 20 years and we have still not made a negative impact on the environment”
Her work, while positioned in architecture unfolds through knowledge from many different disciplines. She ties connections between amongst others, experts in architecture, forest ecology and agriculture. The different temporalities of layers and species used translates back to how and where these materials originate from. Heidi advocates the use of multispecies and with this an increase of biodiversity in the repertoire of materials in architecture, where the “building reflects the biodiversity” in its layers of construction.
“[…] it's not one sort or one type of wood or one plant […] it's multiple species that have to be translated into multiple layers within the building.
As architects, we have to work harder on understanding the different qualities and the different aspects of forestry and how you can use parts of the forestry […] every tree is unique and only together they make a forest. […] don´t necessarily think we should stop using the forests, but it has to be done in a different way”
Through the thinking of layers, connections and multiple species as material sources, readability of the construction moves into the foreground. Only through visibility, and the possibility to read how the architecture has been put together is it possible to later introduce repairing techniques. Within her research she has explored the tradition of Norwegian loghouses, which are built to be fully dismantled and rebuilt at a new location. While craftsmanship and material understanding is a crucial part to keep a continuous rebuilding cycle possible, these houses do not only speak through the skillfull craftsmanship, but also the valuation of material. The loghouse she examined specifically has been rebuilt twice in Norway within a short distance over the timespan of 150 years. The wood used to build the house has been grown for “at least 100 years” and the distance between the relocations is within 500 m from each other, which points to the valuation of the material of the cabin, but also the situatedness of the material. Through her work she questions how architecture could be rethought in terms of connectedness to the building´s location, the choice of materials that flow into the construction according to their cycles, properties and availabilities, additionally to the need to prolong the lifecycles of the longterm or strong materials of a construction. Furthermore, she emphasizes the urgency for higher material valuation and a move away from mass production.
“we have to be more specific in terms of the point of lives the actual situatedness of where we are designing or we are creating architecture. That's more important than anything else. […] Availability of wood that would make sense for this where you take it, pick it out of the forest like individual items - Unique elements and then you adjust it “
“ A question throughout my work is: if we're going to make elements which are specific for a very immediate performance demand, how usable are they in the future?”
- Xan Browne
Xan Browne1 has completed an industrial PhD project with the KADK and Lendager Arkitekter ApS2, titled: Architecture and (Waste) Wood Agency: Integrating material traits into new circular approaches.
This gives him a unique position to engage architecture between academia, industry and practice. His work with recovered timber has gained significant traction in academia, contributing innovative design methods and raising awareness about sustainable practices. Xan’s prototypes and design examples aim to provide references that stimulate discussion and inspire both practitioners and clients.
“I think as you start to build up these smaller projects like the projects that I've been part of that becomes an increasing critical mass of in the sense pressure for those things to be seen as relevant and worth funding for.”
He emphasizes the need for supportive legislation to regrade and legally use secondary timber, suggesting that projects like his can drive the development of such frameworks.
“I suppose without developing these kinds of works prior to the availability of this legislation means that we're aware of which types of technologies would be appropriate for this upon favorable legislation being implemented.”
His work with the architectural firm Lendager Arkitekter ApS reflects a strategic approach to material streams, particularly the use of reclaimed wood from waste streams in ways that optimize its structural as well as architectural potential. This includes exploring the value and value creation of the (recovered) material.
“What is so-called waste wood? Is this material that's just post-consumer, is it sort of a lineage of ownership, you know the material that has been owned by somebody and then they no longer own it? So, is this now already post-consumer? Is it therefore waste wood? Is it material that's being discarded?”
The material's value has a large influence on its implementation potential. On the monetary value and his access to the material resources he adds:
“And all of this is often very situational. And it depends on who's asking, as the moment you ask for it, it's worth a lot of money. And the moment you don't it's just going in the bin.”
Working in academia has further enabled him to include a diverse range of opinions, ranging from clients of large architectural projects to students and the public.
“For some (meaning students in workshops taught within the research project Nordic Waste Wood for Good at KADK3) it didn’t seem like a waste stream at all. For them, it was quite a luxurious material source. Does it constitute a sort of waste stream then?”
Xan's research has shown viable techniques for parallel sustainable building strategies, such as e.g. design for disassembly and reversible joints. By including questions on how elements might later be reconfigured or repurposed, he inquires about future usability and adaptability. This also allows us to explore larger concepts of material re-use and prolonged material life cycles.
“How can we design a single element to have a succession of brittle failures before having a complete failure and through those successions of failures you would see a component beginning to deflect? This then allows you to understand that this component is not doing well and needs to be replaced. And while this requires a lot of redundancy, we ended up with components much lighter than conventional glulam for example.
Larger concepts rather than individual optimization have carried his work forward.
“I think for me a question throughout my work is, if we're going to make elements which are specific for a very immediate performance demand, how usable are they in the future? […] Useful parts don't necessarily have to meet some standardized modular system, but it's the repetition that makes them useful, allowing to form an inventory and design perspective from there. “
Within his prototypes, he has been able to closely collaborate with demolition contractors to define and characterize materials. This process aims to test concept and implementation to aid the feasibility of using reclaimed wood in new projects but also engages more stakeholders in finding efficient and valuable uses for these materials. Reflecting on the feedback from various stakeholders, Xan acknowledges the diverse opinions on his work, from aesthetic critiques to concerns about regulatory compliance. However, he views this diversity as a strength, demonstrating the broad relevance and potential impact of his research, remaining positive on the technology's long-term implementation.
2 Find info and work from Lendager Arkitekter ApS here.
3 Find the Publication with pictures from the workshop here.
“ If [irregular wood] could become a highly valuable architectural component, who wouldn't win? “
- Jaako Torvinen
Jaakko Torvinens's work1 demonstrates a harmonious blend of academic research and practical application, driven by a passion for wood as a material and a commitment to sustainability and aesthetic innovation. He focuses on the utilization of irregular wood, which is often excluded from common industrial processing. He explores this via a design-built approach, through prototypes and demonstrators of single building elements and larger assemblies. He has designed Pikku-Finlandia, the temporary replacement for Alvar Aalto’s Finlandia Hall, and is currently working on a private free-standing sauna, with the working title Puu-Sauna, while he is engaged as a PhD fellow a Aalto University, School of Art, Design and Architecture.
In his work, he emphasises the interplay between spaces of academia and practice, concept and application. While he enjoys the experimental free academia offers, which allows him to push boundaries and expand the scope of what can be achieved in real-world architectural projects, Jaakko sees his academic work as a vital playground to innovate and test ideas that might later be implemented in practical applications, albeit resulting in a more constrained manner. On built prototypes, he notes that:
"I feel that [the built demonstrators] are more of a shade of what we are able to do in academia. And then these somehow reflect into real projects in the real world."
Jaakko‘s approach to design is heavily influenced by his fascination with wood, particularly irregular and round wood. He describes how wood patterns and natural forms guide his design process, citing projects like Pikku-Finlandia, where the use of entire trees became central to the concept.
"The project was about Finland, which for me means: forest. So I wanted columns to be real trees.”
While he acknowledges the practical challenges and constraints of implementing such experimental ideas in the real world, often requiring collaboration with sawmills and forest owners, he is optimistic about the nature of his work to push the discipline further, referencing the importance of building prototypes2,3 within the Pikku-Finlandia design process.
„That's why we did the initial pavilion as a smaller test project. So we could say that we did this already. So, let's do it again. So then it's not anymore that's new and the risk is smaller.“
This has been proven, as he is now utilizing round irregular wood again for new projects. This is opening up the potential for architecture, utilizing disregarded material that further allows us to engage with the material found on site. For instance, the ongoing Puu-Sauna project involved material found on site that was not only implemented in the project but also the trees found there that had an influence on the design of the project. His early fascination with wood has evolved, now trusting the inherent beauty of trees without needing to select each one meticulously.
“In the beginning, I felt, that I wanted to know exactly what trees and I was really picky. [...] Now I think that all the trees are beautiful. I trust that the tree will be beautiful anyway. I don't need to be sure that I picked the right one, so now, for the Puu-Sauna when I've been in the forest choosing the trees, I was more relaxed.“
Overall Jaakko is optimistic about the future of architecture, believing that innovative approaches like using irregular wood can lead to more sustainable and aesthetically pleasing constructions. He argues for the importance of making architectural components from low-value materials, thereby enhancing resource efficiency.
„I think it benefits everybody because now [irregular wood] is just low-value material. But if it can become a highly valuable architectural component, who wouldn't win?“
His vision includes making the world more livable by integrating natural elements into built environments and promoting sustainability within planetary boundaries.
“Just by taking the logs away from other processing and that would be already be big step towards resource efficiency. I think it benefits everybody because now [irregularly shaped logs are] low value material. But if it can become a high valuable architectural component like. Who wouldn't win?”
Jaakko demonstrates in his projects the effective utilization of a wasted resource, irregular wood logs. Within his projects, technology helps him to make use of and gain architectural value from the material. This creates a parallel to a common cycle of material production. While this is still of a prototypical nature, he has shown the materials and workflow feasibility and promise for sustainable building.
"I try making the world better by shaping the world more livable... by being closer to nature. But then I also want to make things a little more sustainable allowing us to live within our planetary boundaries."
1 Find more of his projects here.
2 Beyond many tests and experiments, the design-built group of the project built a full scale demonstrator, exploring a. o. processing, construction and joints for Pikku-Finlandia.
Find images here.
3 To learn about the structural concept, processign workflow in detail within the prototyping of Pikku-Finlandia, see this paper.