Wood+: Strategies for a Material Shift in Architectural Design

Our architecture program is committed to promote the use of wood as the major structural material in architectural design, reinforcing a much-needed material shift to mitigate climate change. Wood is a robust alternative to concrete and steel, sequestering carbon rather than spewing it into the atmosphere. Our region is experiencing a rapid re-emergence of the use of timber and manufactured wood structural products. Timber can be sustainably harvested and locally milled, further reducing carbon pollution in the supply chain. The development of timber construction offers an opportunity to increase our Architecture Program’s commitment to address- ing environmental sustainability in architecture education. Our program has addressed this commitment by expanding curricular and pedagogical strategies encouraging a material shift in key courses in undergraduate and graduate curricula. This paper presents those strategies in four of our architectural design studios where a wood-focused theme inspires our students to be “future stewards to shape zero-net-car- bon buildings and communities1” These strategies exemplify efforts to explore intersections between research and teach- ing, and partnerships between academia and industry in the United States and abroad. The four architectural design studios discussed include: a third-year undergraduate competition-based studio that is tied to our one-year structural systems sequence and is sponsored by a State Commission funded by the forest industry since 2012; a 400/500 level vertical studio; and our Integrated Architectural Design graduate studio where we have defined the use of mass timber as the theme for comprehensive architectural design projects that include the AIA Framework for Design Excellence (previously known as the COTE Top Ten Toolkit2); and our immersive United Kingdom (UK) Study Abroad graduate program (a spring preparatory seminar and a summer research studio in the UK) where we expanded content and pedagogical strategies on green buildings and cities to include cross-laminated timber (CLT).