BY : JUNG HO SEOK
PHOTOGRAPHY : BANG SHI HYUK
Wood is the oldest and one of the most
commonly used engineering materials in the
world. The earliest evidence for a domestic
structure in Britain was that of a tent-like
structure made with wooden supports dating to
7000 BC, and wood is the most commonly used
building material to this day. Worldwide, 109
tonnes of wood are used per annum, comparable
to the consumption of iron and steel. Wood is so
widely used because of its low cost, per tonne
1/60th that of steel, and high specific strength
(high value of the merit index s/r). Wood also
combines high stiffness and high toughness.
As wood is a renewable resource, it is a good
material from an environmental perspective
and its production requires only a low energy
input. One mature tree supplies enough O2 gas
for 10 people but we are consuming in the UK
12 trees per person per year. We must therefore
think carefully about the environmental impact
of using large quantities of wood.
1 . wood architecture