Next month, the AIA National Convention is heading to Philadelphia! As the premier architecture and design conference of the year, this is a can’t-miss event for those involved with the industry. If you haven’t yet purchased your pass, we’re offering a chance to attend free of charge! 

reThink Wood is offering a full pre-paid pass to the 2016 AIA National Convention ($1,050 value) to one lucky ArchDaily reader. The winner will have the chance to meet with architects, engineers, academics and developers that are passionate about innovative design with wood. 

To win, just answer the following question in the comments section before Friday, April 22 at 12:00 p.m. ET: Which mass timber building in the U.S. has most inspired you? 

As part of their annual attendance at the AIA National Convention, reThink Wood will be hosting a variety of activities on site to discuss wood’s advantages in the built environment.. The choice of products used to build, renovate and operate structures consumes more of the earth’s resources than any other human activity. Over the past several years, a number of tall wood projects have been completed around the world, demonstrating successful applications of next-generation lumber and mass timber technologies. Today, the concept is gaining traction in the U.S. – with more architects opting for a sustainable solution for attaining safe, cost-effective, high-performing tall buildings in urban-dense settings.

Attendees are invited to personally meet with experts at the reThink Wood booth (#1131), including Hans-Erik Blomgren of Arup, Lisa Podesto of U.S. WoodWorks and Joe Mayo of Mahlum Architects. We also encourage those interested in learning more about wood buildings and mass timber to attend the various education sessions discussing recent advancements (see below for a few highlights). 

reThink Wood events taking place during the conference include: 

1. #AIATimberTalk Twitter Q&A
Hosted by @reThinkWood
Thursday, May 19 at 11:00 a.m. ET

reThink Wood will again be hosting a Twitter Q&A live from their booth (#1131)! Attendees are invited to participate in this year’s discussion about the tall wood building movement within urban settings. A panel of architects and engineers will be participating to share their learnings and experiences with mid-rise and tall wood buildings. Interested participants are encouraged to gather in-person at the reThink Wood booth, or join virtually using the hashtag #AIATimberTalk. Check out highlights from last year’s Q&A here. 

2. The Momentum of Tall Wood Buildings
Hans-Erik Blomgren, Arup, and Lisa Podesto, U.S. WoodWorks
Thursday, May 19, 12:30-1:30 p.m. ET
CE Theater C
Booth 324

With more than two tall wood projects of 10 stories or more in height planned to start construction in the U.S. in 2016, designers are curious how building teams are navigating the code hurdles. This presentation will examine the latest research available supporting tall wood structures and how architects can leverage this information with their local authorities having jurisdiction.

3. Architecture in Solid Wood
Joe Mayo, Mahlum, Todd Beyreuther, Washington State University, Susan Jones, atelierjones, and Hans-Erik Blomgren, Arup
Friday, May 20, 7:00-8:00 a.m. ET
Pennsylvania Convention Center
Room 113

It’s hard to rival the desirability of solid wood as a building material. From forest to factory to finished building, this session explores the selection and production of mass timber in today’s high-tech industry. Don’t miss this opportunity to get insider insights into how mass timber is transforming residential, commercial, and institutional projects.

To learn more about reThink Wood, visit reThinkWood.com, sign up for our monthly newsletter and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. 

Remember, to enter for a chance to win a full pre-paid pass to the 2016 AIA National Convention, answer the following question in the comments section before April 22 at 12:00 p.m. ET: Which wood building in the U.S. has most inspired you?

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© Gonzalo Viramonte

• Architects: Manuel Gonzalez Veglia , Dolores Menso
• Location: Las Corzuelas, Villa Allende, Córdoba, Argentina
• Area: 160.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2015
• Photographs: Gonzalo Viramonte

• Design And Construction: Arq. Maria Emilia Lavanchy
• Design: Arq. Florencia Carbonetti
• Structure: Arqs. Fernando Mattiuz y Gustavo Lozano

© Gonzalo Viramonte

From the architect. The house is located in a new community on the outskirts of the city. The project is meant to be a sober and orderly intervention; a pause within a visually noisy context. Once you walk in the interior of the house, one understands that the spacial sequence is defined by its structure. By structure we mean shape, space and movement. 

© Gonzalo Viramonte

Plan

© Gonzalo Viramonte

In an attempt to reduce, but above all, keep control of construction costs, inexpensive modular elements were used –e.g. concrete blocks – as well as materials that do not require maintenance – e.g. exposed concrete and pre-painted metal panels-. 

© Gonzalo Viramonte

Concrete blocks comprise the exterior envelope of the house with metal framing with gypsum board on the inside.  The metal framing hosts all of the pipes and wires without interfering with the CMU, while providing optimal thermal insulation. The project is laid over a grid of parallel walls which run from east to west, crossed by 4 beams in a north-south orientation. Walls define spaces and there are sloped slabs between beams.

© Gonzalo Viramonte

Detail

© Gonzalo Viramonte

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© Peter Larsson / KTH

A group of researchers from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm has developed Optically Transparent Wood (TW), a new material that could greatly impact the way we develop our architectural projects. Published in the American Chemical Society’s journal Biomacromolecules, the transparent timber is created through a process that removes the chemical lignin from a wood veneer, causing it to become very white. This white porous veneer is then impregnated with a transparent polymer, matching the optical properties of the individual cells and making the whole material translucent.

Lars Berglund, a professor at KTH Wallenberg Wood Science Center, says that these translucent panels could not only be used in windows and facades to let in sunlight while preserving the occupant’s privacy, but also would be an effective material for the surfaces of solar cells – particularly when covering large expanses of cells, where the wood’s cheap production costs would offer a significant cost benefit.

© Biomacromolecules / Licensed by ACS AuthorChoice

“When the lignin is removed, the wood becomes beautifully white. But because wood isn’t naturally transparent, we achieve that effect with some nanoscale tailoring,” said Berglund.

The optical properties of the material, which was funded by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, are “tunable by changing the cellulose volume fraction.” A detailed explanation of the process here.

News via KTH.se / Biomacromolecules

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© Adrià Goula

• Architects: Miàs Architects
• Location: Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
• Architect In Charge: Josep Miàs
• Area: 395.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2015
• Photographs: Adrià Goula, Marc Gonzalez

• Colaborators: Marc Subirana (project leader), Marta Cases, Laura Vidal, Cristina Herrero, Oscar Berbel, Silvia Marcet, Maria Comas.
• Consultor: Josep Massachs (ME Engineering), Carles Bou (Arquitecto técnico)
• Main Contractor: Cardoner
• Client: Public – Barcelona City Council, BSM Barcelona Serveis Municipals

© Adrià Goula

From the architect. Palau Sant Jordi designed for the 1992 Olympics, by Arata Isozaki, have evolved and changed its skin into multiple, different and variable faces during the last two decades. From U2, or Bruce Springsteen to the Rolling Stones have gone through its rooms, scenarios and walls.

© Adrià Goula

The VIP lounges are conceived inside those walls. They are thought as capsules built into the geometry of Palau Sant Jordi. The new spaces are grown and built into an existing one.  

Floor Plan

Section

The existing spaces where 3D bounded and modeled to fit the new lounge capsules. Made of steel and light every panel of the lounges was 3D designed and parameterized with different patterns of texture, perforation and LED RGB. The 418 different panels were separately laser cut and manufactured using the very new technologies without increasing the cost and time of production. 

© Adrià Goula

The capsules shape a new atmosphere for its events. A new space that can fit the multiple events happening in the Palau at the same time it takes the visitors to a completely different kind of dimension. It is a space travel through sensations and feelings. The VIP lounges represent the new experience that completes and accompanies the tours of the great stars.

Site

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Courtesy of OMA

OMA has revealed the design for its first skyscraper in Tokyo. A tower with a torqued front-facade, the building incorporates an elevated park and access to a new Hibiya Line subway station in a project that mixes hotel, office, and retail components.

Designed by Shohei Shigematsu, Partner and Director of OMA New York, the tower is one of three proposed by Japanese-developer Mori Building. OMA’s Toranomon Hills Station Tower would join Toranomon Hills Business Tower and Toranomon Hills Residential Tower, and will, according to the firm, “transform the area into a more vibrant, globally accessible business hub that will entice individuals and enterprises from around the world to live, work and play, reshaping Toranomon into a gateway to Tokyo and hub for international business.” The tower is scheduled to be completed in 2022, but partial subway service will begin in time for the 2020 Olympics.

“Toranomon Hills Station Tower serves as a key node that connects the new station to the other towers and the surrounding district,” says Shohei Shigematsu. “The axis of activity is designed to run through the base, extending vertically to wrap the tower; communicating the activity of the complex at an urban scale.”

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