Residency Project

The sustainability crisis is, arguably, a materials crisis. Concrete, plastic, aluminium, all make energy and resource demands we can’t sustain. One answer is to make buildings, clothes, packaging, cars and even satellites from biomaterials. In my project, Wooden Planet, I will ask: could we make everything from wood? At Aalto University I hope to find the answer.

Finland is 73 per cent forest, and they are a vital part of its economy. There is a drive here for bioinnovation, exemplified in the country’s flagship programme, FinnCERES Materials Cluster, whose centre is the Bioproducts and Biosystems Department (Bio2) of Aalto University. Bio2 is also the home of the Finnish Bioeconomy Infrastructure which facilitates innovative research in Finland.

Researchers at Aalto combine natural sciences, engineering and arts in a unique way to transform lignin and cellulose. Wood can be made to shimmer or be transparent, to become clothing, car shells and buildings – and adhesives, fire retardants and bubble wrap.

The interdisciplinarity at Aalto is particularly useful for my Wooden Planet question. The Bioinnovation Center connects the cutting-edge chemistry with the departments of architecture, fashion and business, combining frontier science and its contemporary application.
Even more broadly, in Finland, I could engage in the wider, critical thinking about whether wood is the route to sustainability. Can we grow enough trees? Can we simultaneously safeguard forests for biodiversity? How do scientists think about these wider problems?