The Materiality of Novel Timber Architecture: developing a model for analysing and evaluating materials in architecture

In recent years, wood as a building material has gained renewed focus and, in parallel, new production methods and further refined timber products have been developed. Many of these novel timber building materials have gained significantly enhanced technical qualities, and the question is whether this is at the expense of wood’s sensuous and poetic qualities. The proposed method to deal with these questions is to develop a discursive model that can clarify aspects essential for analyzing and discussing the materiality of timber in its contemporary engineered forms. Firstly, this paper presents a theoretical review of different approaches to materials in the field of architecture, including a pragmatic as well as an abstract approach. Secondly, based on the theoretical foundation a discursive model is developed. Here, it is suggested that in order to reach a thorough insight into the qualities of a material, one need to consider three aspects; technology, material and materiality. Furthermore, three perspectives; entity, enclosure, and transition, are included in the model, in order to tie the perception of the material to the architectural frame. Together these six aspects constitute a model that enables analysis and evaluation of materials and their role in architecture.