Aisling Irwin

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.