Most of us admire wood and timber products. We rarely think for a moment of the country of origin of the forest from where the wood was taken. Nor we think of the conditions in which the population of that country live or the damage caused to their environment by the destruction of their forests. Nor do we realize that the accumulated destruction of the forests in all countries is contributing in a massive way towards global warming. Wood is one of the earths most adaptable and most familiar natural material, we are often not aware of its importance in our daily lives. The quality of our life has been greatly enhanced because of this wonderful resource. Nowadays wood is one of the greatest materials used. It is used into countless forms of tools; heat, shelter, furniture and now even skyscrapers in the near future. This demand for wood is projected to increase over the next half century.
There are two possible futures: one in which the demand for wood products is met in a sustainable way, and another in which business production continues to degrade and destroy tropical forests (illegal). There are several ways to satisfy the demand of wood sustainability. Increasing demand for wood products doesn’t have to mean increasing damage to tropical forests. To achieve that the number of forest loss should not be dramatically different then the number of forest gain. Whereas in some areas the harvesting procedure itself may be illegal, including using corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission or from a protected area; the cutting of protected species; or the extraction of timber in excess of agreed limits. This has not just made damage to the world but as well to society.
Industrial plantations are established to produce a high volume of wood in a short period of time. Wood production on a tree plantation is generally higher then that of natural forests. While forested managed for wood production commonly yield between 1 and 3 cubic meters per hectare per year, plantations of fast growing species commonly yield between 20 and 30 cubic meters or more per hectare annually.Paper consumption will increase more than 100 percent. Solid wood products will grow at a slower rate between 28 to 61%. Consumption of wood for fuel will decrease by 23%, as developing countries follow a similar path.
The three sites researched at are Chile, Brazil and Canada. These 3 locations have different forestry conditions and they are one of their main economic sectors; they export their wood mainly to the United States, China and France.
Wood Industry is a project of IaaC, Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia developed at Master in Advanced Architecture in 2015-2016 by:
Students: Borislava Lyubenova
Carlos Daniel Gomez
Rana Abdulmajeed
Faculty: Daniel Ibanez and Mathilde Marengo
