Living with Wood

Wood, like stone, is a building material that has been used throughout human history. Western imagery, heir to that of Greece and Rome, has tended to revere stone as a mark of nobility and civilization. However, the relevance of stone in the history of mankind is not comparable to that of wood. Only a material as light, accessible, durable, malleable and permeable as wood could provide a structural solution so permanent, affordable and universal.

The new architecture, in an attempt to reconcile buildings with nature and tradition, claims wood as a material capable of meeting all the requirements of sustainability, versatility and human scale. Technological innovations have helped to rescue wood from obsolescence, rehabilitating it as a structural element or as siding, and returning it to the place it once occupied in towns and cities.