Innovations in forestry, engineering and design are becoming increasingly entwined. For developments in materials to thrive we need people that undertake radical play and innovation. Interested in what's happening in academia and research, we are curious to discover ways in which the forest and the built environment can be more intimately connected. We want to know how experimentation translates into the commercial world where teams of accountants and regulations often dominate. Our journey took us to the robotics labs of Stuttgart, the radical Design & Make education at Hooke Park, and the forests of Freiburg.
RADICAL REALISM
Where reality and boundary-pushing collide
Whilst robotics, radical pedagogy, and new silviculture are often seen at the extremities of material supply, they provide the base for a range of businesses putting innovation into reality.
Xylotek is just one example of this; bringing together radical computational design and fusing it with expertise in traditional construction via the inspirational work of Charley Brentnall. Born of the experimental world of academic design & build, they take the leading-edge of design into the realism of commercial engineering. Though already familiar with their work, to be able to understand their priorities, their passions for timber engineering, and to visit some of their projects felt like a critical piece of work to join up experimentation and real world action.
Keen to explore the interplay of increased demands for timber throughout the built environment and what that means for biodiverse, rich, resilient forests and timber supplies we pulled together a few stakeholders for a chat.
RAD
ICAL
ENGINEERING
& FORESTRY
To be radical in engineering carries risks in the immediate design, build, and building use. To be radical in forestry requires accepting that the success or failure of your experimentation won’t actually be known until you long become one with the soil. Both forest owner and forest manager must embrace that radical realism affects not only you and the immediate, but also future generations and landscapes.
Though the radical realism of forester Didier Paillerau may seem less immediate, the consequences of his experimentation in real world forestry have immense implications for generations of timber users. Didier took us deep into one of the forests he manages in the Alsace to show us how a new type of silviculture can focus on the way trees want to grow and encourages continuous renewal to cope with changing climate.</