Metsä Wood’s photo series with award-winning Finnish photographer Kimmo Syväri captures the aesthetic features of wood from a new perspective, but also holds a deeper meaning. Megatrends such as urbanization and climate change present new challenges for the construction sector. It is high time to see the possibilities of wood through new eyes.
How we are building today and in the future is critical not only to the climate and human wellbeing, but to economic growth and prosperity. With an inspiring photo series Metsä Wood aims to challenge the global construction sector to join them in developing fast, light and green solutions for the construction industry. In practice this means actively seizing every opportunity to choose more sustainable, material-efficient and productive construction methods. The essence of fast, light and green building is manifested in Kimmo Syväri’s photographs, who hopes to inspire construction professionals through his art.
“Buildings constructed today are long-lasting and have a major impact on the environment we live in. It’s my hope that my work speaks to architects, designers and other construction professionals and challenges them to raise their ambition levels. Wood is a great material: sustainable, aesthetic and more natural feeling than concrete or metal. Of course this isn’t to say that everything should be built of wood. However, due to its many amazing qualities wood should always be considered as a potential alternative,” Syväri asserts.
Familiar architectural and conceptual approaches capture the eye
The series includes photographs with both architectural and more conceptual themes. Syväri reveals that the seemingly effortless and straightforward images required a lot of planning from the whole creative team.
Each photograph in the series offers real insights relevant for building with wood, yet they also leave room for more personal responses and interpretations. For example, the famous New York city Wall Street view has quite many different associations, but in this context it reminds us that in the face of increasing urbanization and migration to cities we need to start building higher, faster and more sustainably. An image of a piece of wood emblazoned with a flame-like pattern also has a deeper meaning in the context of bioenergy; today’s engineered wood can be produced in a way that generates more bioenergy than it uses.
“These images are an interesting combination of the familiar and the unexpected. Well known buildings and recognisable forms and symbols re-imagined as made with wood create a contradiction, yet at the same time provide a different – hopefully inspirational – perspective on the future of building.” Syväri contemplates.
A tribute to the aesthetics aspects of wood
In the course of time Metsä Wood has realized that existing images of wood building do not fully showcase the aesthetic side of wood. The images were too often blunt, industrial and lacked any richer meaning. Syväri and his creative team expertly deepened the focus of the series so that it becomes a tribute to the beauty of wood – and the ways it can engage all of our senses.
“Wood feels close to us because it is a living thing – just like us. Wooden structures effortlessly combine strength with aesthetics, and thermal protection with environmental benefits. Trees – the source of wood – are beautiful. They then pass through a quite industrial process, and come out again as aesthetic building elements. The photo series is a tribute to this ‘circle of beauty’ – how the right technology and design can recapture the intrinsic beauty of wood,” Syväri concludes.
Metsä Wood’s photo series with award-winning Finnish photographer Kimmo Syväri
Metsä Wood’s photo series with award-winning Finnish photographer Kimmo Syväri captures the aesthetic features of wood. Kimmo Syväri is an award-winning Finnish photographer and graphic designer with over 16 years of experience. Syväri has worked with Metsä Group and Metsä Wood for several years in promoting wood construction. Fast, Light and Green photo series premiered in an exhibition on June 15th at Metsä Group headquarters in Espoo, Finland.
- In Kerto® LVL (Laminated Veneer Lumber) wood is used efficiently. All of the wood used in our products can be traced to sustainably managed forests.
- Kerto® LVL (Laminated Veneer Lumber) elements can be prefabricated off-site which makes construction on-site both faster, easy and a lot safer.
- As the wood used for manufacturing Kerto® LVL (Laminated Veneer Lumber) traps carbon straight from the atmosphere, the carbon footprint of Kerto® LVL isn’t just small – it is negative.
- The production of Kerto® (LVL Laminated Veneer Lumber) at the Metsä Wood Lohja mill is 100% bioenergy self-sufficient. Kerto® LVL (Laminated Veneer Lumber) is so light in comparison to concrete and steel that it reduces both traffic costs and traffic itself.
Learn more about the Fast, Light and Green construction with wood: http://www.metsawood.com/publications
Metsä Wood provides competitive and environmentally friendly wood products for construction, industrial customers and distributor partners. We manufacture products from Nordic wood, a sustainable raw material of premium quality. Our sales in 2015 were EUR 0.9 billion, and we employ about 2,000 people. Metsä Wood is part of Metsä Group.
SOURCE Metsa Wood
