“Wood is a material for the future. Egurtek is not a forum that only promotes the use of wood, but one that plays a very important role because it reflects the entire value chain. It is not limited only to design and construction, but to forest management, technicians… it refers to all the links”. With these words Bittor Oroz, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Policy of the Basque Government, opened today the ninth edition of Egurtek, International Forum on Architecture and Construction in wood.
The opening ceremony has also be attended by Xabier Basañez, General Manager of Bilbao Exhibition Centre; Oskar Azkarate, General Manager of Baskegur and Patxi Chocarro, Dean of the Official Association of Basque Architects.
On this occasion, top-level speakers such as Carlos Castanheira (Carlos Castanheira Architects), a prestigious architect mainly working in the residential sector and known for his characteristic use of wood as a reflection of the interaction between construction and nature; or Laura Álvarez (Laura Álvarez Architecture), who has been recognised as one of the most outstanding architects and designers aged under 40 in Europe and who is committed to experimentation and to landscape and urban architecture as crucial ingredients for successful and integrated design, will display her most outstanding works at the Conference;
“Wood works in a totally different way than other materials and that’s what we have to keep in mind at all times during construction,” Castanheira emphasized. “The good thing about wood is that it is very versatile and can be applied in many different ways, so for each type of construction a different wood construction method can be applied”, says Alvarez.
Stefan Prins, an architect specialising in woodworking in high-rise buildings and a partner at Powerhouse Company, the architectural firm responsible for the iconic Rotterdam Floating Office, which is designed to rise with the tides; “You have to build strategies in wood and innovate as much as possible with the architect’s vision. You have to understand all the possibilities that wood encompasses and design it in detail.”
Vittorio Salvadori, an Austrian with a PhD in architecture and a Business Development Manager at CREE Buildings, a consulting and technology firm working in sustainable and healthy buildings using prefabricated wood-based components. “The construction details make possible the construction of medium heights, which are the ones that can be made effective in our environment”, he reflected.
In a clear commitment to sustainability, the event will feature Spanish speakers such as Iñaki Archanco, who together with his team at BOA Arquitectura Sostenible, follows a philosophy of sensitivity to the environment and the well-being of people. “Wood is one of the few materials that can be used as a structural and construction element and as a surface finish”, said Archanco.
Elizabeth Ábalo & Gonzalo Alonso (Estudio Ábalo-Alonso), winners of the Egurtek 2020 Construction Award for their project A Baiuca Nursery School in A Estrada, Pontevedra: “In the Basque Country, wood construction is understood as a regional hub: we can be producers, we can be processors, we can build in wood and we can even train in wood”.
Tomorrow, October 20, the conference will feature presentations by the Danish architect Lone Wiggers (C.F. Møller Architects), architects Sheila Blanco and Iñaki Del Prim (Blancodelprim Arquitectura Ecopasiva), María Barcina (BxD Arquitectura) and Jonathan Tuckey (Jonathan Tuckey Design).
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