A Manifesto for Wood & the Search for Bois-brut

Abstract: Wood is often perceived as a flawed material. When painted, technologically treated or sealed, in a pursuit to make it more predictable and durable, some of its most important qualities are mislaid. This project explores the aesthetic, material and constructional possibilities of wood, and suggests the possibility of a wood brutalism architecture. The project includes a written manifesto for the benefits of wood in the human habitat, proposes a CO₂ based economic strategy for our built environment and promotes massive wood buildings as our carbon savings account. To find out what a wood brutalism of today might be, the project includes an analysis of the relationship between the material concrete, Betón-brut and the zeitgeist of the 60´s and 70´s. In the application of the manifesto and Bois-brut on a case study housing project in Östberga, Stockholm, the Trellick tower has acted as a brutalist mirror reference. Vernacular timber buildings have provided clues in the search for the essence of wood.