Wood and Mass Timber

Every century has its own trademark of new construction materials. Like concretes, which were invented about one hundred years ago, while 1960s was the new era of plastics. Mr. Guallart said, wood/mass timber must be the symbolic new materials in 21st century. 

Unlike Scandinavian countries, Spain does not have a long tradition of using woods as construction material. Houses there were mostly built with bricks. In recent years, many farmers have left their farmlands, which gave nature a chance to take over. Large area of forests start appearing in Spain. Take Catalonia region as an example, 70% of the lands are covered by forests, which opens up a whole new opportunity for local architecture industry.  Learning to effect manage forests has become a new agenda. Also, using woods, as well as developing new wood construction material like CLT is also promoted.  

At the same time, this new movement is pushed forward by external environment. In 2019, The Major of Barcelona, Ada Colau declared climate emergencies and adopted a series of strategies, covering short, medium, and long terms in response to climate changes. Some of the strategies included: building more super city blocks, develop more low emission zones, and plan more public transport services diagonally. 

 

As the former chief architect of Barcelona, Mr. Guallart said change is a long process. It might take more than 50 years to witness results, which does not mean we should sit and wait. Making change happen should be a collective efforts that involves economy and politics from all works of life in a society. After this declaration, Mr. Guallart can feel the determination for change from the city of Barcelona. 

Tallest in Spain

Eight months ago, Mr. Guallart cooperated with architect Daniel Ibañez

has won the competition and got the chance to design the tallest wood building in Spain. The building will be nine stories,37 meters in height, containing 40 units social houses, with a green house rooftop, as well as self-sufficient elements developed by Mr. Guallart and his Fablab, this building will be able to provide its own food and energy.

From June this year, this tallest timber building will start construction process. To this date, there are around 20 timber buildings in Spain. With Mr.Guallart’s project, it will surely encourage more architects to start using timber. According to him, the future of timber architectures will definitely be taller and more complex.

The mixed-use community is set to feature homes for residents of all ages, as well as offices, a swimming pool, shops, an administrative center, and a fire station, among other facilities. All of the living spaces will feature a large terrace facing south for thermal regulation purposes, and would be equipped for telework with 5G network connections. A series of manufacturing stations on the ground floor will allow residents to use 3D printers to make objects for daily use.

The four tower blocks will be constructed using mass timber and incorporate passive design solutions to promote resource conservation. All of the buildings will be topped with greenhouses and solar arrays, which can produce food and energy for the community. 

On the outside, Xiong an new area is quite different from what Mr.Guallart s usual style in terms of geographic choices. Nature is often a recurring theme throughout his career. Like his project in Denia region, Spain,2002, he spent long time doing research in the mountains and developed a new type of co-living with nature. in 2003, he helped to design keelun port in taiwan, which was also using nature as a background. As for Xiong An city, it is a completely newly built area with no past and missing elements from nature. But Mr.Guallart thinks this does not pose as an obstacle. Instead, he took it as both a challenge and opportunity, like a playground, he can let his imagination run free.

This project was hatched during Covid-19 lockdown, with Mr.Guallart himself confined at his own home. He was not able to visit the location. However, this allowed him to think in peace. In the time of global crisis like the pandemic, he is more adamant than ever to push forward the idea of living with nature in harmony.

Suggestions

Mr. Guallart has visited China many times, both as an architect and a participant in different competition held in cities like Beijing, Hangzhou, Guangzhou. He is impressed every time by how committed and professional these organizations he met.

Mr.Guallart has a strong impression that China is on the way for more change. As an architect who strongly advocates eco design, he believes the goal for China s future development in mass timber, should be using resources locally and a better forest management, so as to using woods more efficiently.