This week on Dezeen, architects and governments alike bet on the future potential of wood as a construction material, with plans unveiled to build public buildings and skyscrapers from the material.
In a bid to make France carbon-neutral by 2050, president Emmanuel Macron is pushing for a sustainability law that would require at least 50 per cent of any new, state-funded building to be made from timber or other bio-based materials such as hemp or straw.
The plan was motivated by the material's use in the design of the 2024 Paris Olympics complex, where all buildings above eight storeys will be made entirely from timber.
Sidewalk Labs tests possibilities for timber construction with 35-storey Proto-Model
Currently, the world's tallest timber buildings is 18 storeys high, but Alphabet's architectural subsidiary Sidewalk Labs has developed a digital model for a high-rise which, at 35-storeys high, would be the tallest of its kind. The aim is to turn this proof of concept into a reality as part of company's redevelopment of the Toronto waterfront.
Generate to build carbon-neutral CLT apartment block in Boston
Architecture studio Generate has also announced plans to build a modular, pre-fabricated apartment block and co-working space in Boston using cross-laminated timber.
The company's CEO John Klein told Dezeen that, to his knowledge "it will be one of the most sustainable buildings in America".
Counterspace designs Serpentine Pavilion 2020 to be built with recyc...