The forest city of Barcelona
Barcelona has been recognized as the European Forest City for 2022 and will host the annual conference of the European Forest Institute.This new pavilion celebrates recent advancements in wood building technology, and also opens during the same week as the Barcelona European Forest City 2022. This weeklong initiative was organized by the European Forest Institute (EFI) in partnership with the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona (AMB), the Barcelona City Council, the Barcelona Provincial Council and the Generalitat de Catalunya together with scientific centers such as IAAC, CTFC, CREAF and Parc de Belloch. As part of the series of events and activities taking place in Barcelona throughout this year, the installation “Mass is More” intends to deepen the discussion on Biocities and new ways of designing and managing urban environments, based on the principles of circular bioeconomy, reflecting on our relationship with our forests and promoting new ways of construction.
© Adrià Goula
The unique Mies van der Rohe Pavilion, the venue where the Mass Is More wood pavillion is located
The Mies van der Rohe Pavilion, the German National Pavilion designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich for the 1929 Barcelona International Exposition, is an important building in the history of modern architecture, known for its purity of space, simplicity of architectural language and richness of extravagant materials (such as marble, red onyx and travertine), expressing extreme richness in a minimalist way that has inspired many important modernist buildings. The pavilion is also the host of the biennial European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture / Mies van der Rohe Awards, attesting to the role and influence of the Fundació Mies van der Rohe in the current architectural discourse.
© Adrià Goula
The Wood Pavilion, part of the Barcelona European Forest Cities series, will deepen the discussion on the creation of bio-cities and new ways of designing and managing cities
“Mass is More” intends to deepen the discussion on Biocities and new ways of designing and managing urban environments
Why “Mass Is More” is a construction manifesto?
Advanced and environmentally friendly construction material But why mass timber? Its use in buildings is one of the solutions with the greatest impact on decarbonizing the construction process. On the one hand, wood can replace materials from fossil resources such as concrete or steel, to capture the CO(2) absorbed by trees and store it in the form of buildings and to allow more CO(2) to be sequestered in new generations of trees in the forest. For 25 years, the production of industrialized solid wood has been growing exponentially, becoming the main focus of the transformation of the current building model. In Europe, CLT is one of the main competitors against other more polluting materials such as steel, concrete or brick, especially in the residential market. If the 19th century was the century of steel and the 20th century the century of concrete, the 21st century will be the century of wood, not only because of its constructive qualities, but also because it is the only material with potentially positive externalities. Industrialized solid wood has the potential to create an exemplary model of a circular economic flow. It is a material of renewable origin, its use promotes sustainable forest management, it has the capacity to safely store CO(2), it is light, easy to transport and good for insulating while remaining a structural material, and it allows for rapid construction with greater control of the construction site, lower risks and less pollution. The Mass Is More installation consists almost entirely of cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels, a relatively new material that, since its development in 1994, has continued to resonate in the building and construction industry due to its structural and environmental benefits. However, the current response to CLT is not sufficient to match its growing importance as a new wood-based material in the face of the climate change challenges of the 21st century and the issue of sustainable development. According to a study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Research, only 0.5% of all new buildings will be made of wood by 2050, assuming business-as-usual development. The climate and resource issues are already unpredictable, and the scenario is even more unimaginable at that point. The construction industry, as an industry that requires multiple players to develop, needs more power to bring all visions together, and the Mass Is More wood project has stepped up to serve as a call for coming mass timber times.
Less is more? Mass is more?
Mies van der Rohe encapsulates the principle of modernist architecture, Less is more, proposed by the Bauhaus Weimar, a classic modern building that demonstrates the shift in architectural values and techniques that had a huge impact on 20th century architecture. Nearly a century later, in the same location, it seeks to express another idea: Mass is more. The Mass Timber Barcelona Pavilion reignites the Spanish-German collaboration (IAAC- BE). Mies and Lily'spavilion was a quintessential modern structure, expressing the shifting values and technologies influencing architecture in the 20th century. IAAC + BE's pavilion explores re- entanglement through its use of regenerative architectural materials, exposing the multi-layered processes behind the construction of the built environment. The Wood Pavilion, part of the Barcelona European Forest Cities series, will deepen the discussion on the creation of bio-cities and new ways of designing and managing cities, based on the principles of circular bio-economy, reflecting on our relationship with the environment.
© Adrià Goula
Mass timber is coming !
Contrary to popular belief, CO2 emissions from building complexes - one of the material elements that make up cities - do not arise from the operation of the buildings, but from the construction process of the buildings, including the procurement of materials. In this case, sustainably managed productive forests are the best natural solution for cities to absorb CO2 emissions. With the promotion of wood as a new mode of construction, we could see a greater demand for wood and therefore an increase in the number of productively managed forests, thus contributing to the absorption of CO2 emissions in cities.
The Mass Is More installation creates a timber pavilion that demonstrates the potential of large-scale timber architecture, which includes demonstrating the circularity of the timber value chain, including the interdependence between sourcing landscape, species, local labor, industry and carbon; its unique highly industrial and assembled logic; its structural and thermal capacity; its unique warm aesthetic and haptic tendencies; and its suitability for disassembly and reuse design, etc. Such an attractive and promising timber building stands at the nexus of the development of the MASS-MADERA network. MASS-MADERA was born to break down the barriers that limit its development, to communicate, coordinate and connect the agents that use these building systems to facilitate the transformation and development of cities.
A century ago, the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion started a modernist architectural movement where Less is more became the design philosophy that shook people; a century later, the building stands out again, bringing attention to a design issue that goes beyond the building itself - MASS-MADERA, actively Mass is more is a declaration full of determination, inspiring more people to participate and embrace a promising Mass Timber time.
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GALLERY
Why “Mass Is More” is a construction manifesto?
Advanced and environmentally friendly construction material But why mass timber? Its use in buildings is one of the solutions with the greatest impact on decarbonizing the construction process. On the one hand, wood can replace materials from fossil resources such as concrete or steel, to capture the CO(2) absorbed by trees and store it in the form of buildings and to allow more CO(2) to be sequestered in new generations of trees in the forest. For 25 years, the production of industrialized solid wood has been growing exponentially, becoming the main focus of the transformation of the current building model. In Europe, CLT is one of the main competitors against other more polluting materials such as steel, concrete or brick, especially in the residential market. If the 19th century was the century of steel and the 20th century the century of concrete, the 21st century will be the century of wood, not only because of its constructive qualities, but also because it is the only material with potentially positive externalities. Industrialized solid wood has the potential to create an exemplary model of a circular economic flow. It is a material of renewable origin, its use promotes sustainable forest management, it has the capacity to safely store CO(2), it is light, easy to transport and good for insulating while remaining a structural material, and it allows for rapid construction with greater control of the construction site, lower risks and less pollution. The Mass Is More installation consists almost entirely of cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels, a relatively new material that, since its development in 1994, has continued to resonate in the building and construction industry due to its structural and environmental benefits. However, the current response to CLT is not sufficient to match its growing importance as a new wood-based material in the face of the climate change challenges of the 21st century and the issue of sustainable development. According to a study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Research, only 0.5% of all new buildings will be made of wood by 2050, assuming business-as-usual development. The climate and resource issues are already unpredictable, and the scenario is even more unimaginable at that point. The construction industry, as an industry that requires multiple players to develop, needs more power to bring all visions together, and the Mass Is More wood project has stepped up to serve as a call for coming mass timber times.
Images
© Adrià Goula
Author
Vicenete Guallart, D. Ibánez and A. Organschi
Location
Barcelona, Spain
Published
05/01/23
Reading time
15 min
TRENDING TOPICS
"Mass is More" construction manifesto of the 21st century
“Mass Is More", a project by Daniel Ibáñez and Vicente Guallart of the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC) and Alan Organschi of Bauhaus Earth (BE).
Author
Vicenete Guallart, D. Ibánez and A. Organschi
Credits
Location
Barcelona, Spain
Published
05/01/23
Reading time
15 min
Images
© Adrià Goula
Preface
Mass Is More uses Mass Timber to build a wood-frame installation that serves as the launch stage for MASS MADERA, which establishes a dialogue between 20th century industrial modernity and the new low-emissions architecture of the 21st century. MASS MADERA is a national network of pioneers whose main mission is to promote and facilitate the construction of green buildings and to work towards decarbonization of buildings. Through various interventions, the project installation demonstrates how the use of wood and other recycled materials can help reduce the high CO2 emissions associated with the construction industry. It combines the unique identity of the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion in the field of architecture to launch a "construction manifesto" that announces the future of the Mass Timber era.