Future sustainable skyscrapers will be made of...wood?

2016-05-18T12:29:00-04:00

Proponents of the material, called cross-laminated timber, or CLT, say it can be used to erect buildings that are just as strong and fire-resistant as those made from steel and concrete. Those qualities have helped excite the passions of architects and environmentalists, who think it could unlock a greener method for housing the world’s growing population, and timber producers, who hope to open a U.S. market for the value-added good.

Right now the structures are mainly proposals, but CLT could be the principal element of a 100-story tower nicknamed "The Splinter" in London as designed by PLP Architecture, while there's an ornamental 40-story timber tower in Stockholm on the boards, as designed by Anders Berensson Architects:

These aren't your grandfather's skyscrapers:

Will tall towers and sky walks populate the Stockholm of the future?

2016-01-12T13:34:00-05:00

Could roof-straddling “sky walks” soon be coming to Stockholm? A new plan proposed for the Swedish capital would see a large slice of its city center built over with densely packed towers, joined at their peaks by a dramatic zigzag of tree-lined, open air gangways... Sweden’s capital is one of the fastest growing cities in Europe... If it isn’t going to sprawl unmanageably or become overcrowded, it’s going to have to find somewhere to put everyone...

Proposed by Anders Berensson Architects, the "Klarastaden," or "clear city" plan, was commissioned by the Swedish Center Party, a center-right party with an environmental focus and neoliberal bent. The Swedish capital is poised to grow 17 percent in the next nine years, putting pressure on its historic infrastructure and architecture.

If you want to avoid sprawling out, you're best options are to go in and up, increasing urban density and height. The Klarastaden proposal does just that, weaving together a matrix of towers of different heights and widths with a series of pathways. Following what is increasingly becoming the go-to trend for marking a project as "green," the building roofs would support a fragmented park.

But, as is noted by CityLab, the Center Party isn't in power at the moment. So Anders Berensson Architects have also crafted a diagram for how their strategy could be retooled as a retrofit instead of a massive development.

Related:

Left to rot: abandoned Swedish mid-cen...

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Future sustainable skyscrapers will be made of...wood?

Will tall towers and sky walks populate the Stockholm of the future?