Superonda Talks
Whole Wood
STÉPHANE BERTHIER
Monday 21 November 2022, 6 p.m.
Archizoom, SG building, Place Ada Lovelace, EPFL
Stéphane Berthier will discuss the historical aspect of the change taking place in the wood industry and its potential to change building models. One of the topics will be how a previous wave of innovation in France that took place between the 1970s and 1980s ended, notably within a working group composed of the architects Gimonet, Lajus, Schweitzer and Watel. This renaissance of wood architecture rehabilitated the material within the scholarly architecture, after having been long neglected in favor of flagship materials of modernity such as steel or reinforced concrete. However, this push has not had a significant impact on the market share of the wood industry in the construction field, despite the emphasis placed on the realization of industrial and modular structures deemed economical. The question that now arises is whether contemporary environmental issues are likely to provide the additional arguments that the industry lacked in the 1970s.
The lecture is also broadcast live on Zoom.
Meeting ID : 646 5060 5823
Biography
Stéphane Berthier is an architect with a degree from the EPFL and a doctorate in architecture from the University of Paris Saclay. He is a lecturer at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Versailles and a researcher at LEAV. His research focuses on architecture as a medium for experimenting with technical innovations. He is also a founding partner of the architecture agency MESOSTUDIO in Paris.