HSI Report: Wood constructionin Hokkaido and Arctic regions
University News | August 08, 2019

Some of the main attractions to constructing buildings out of wood,
versus concrete, is that it is more environmentally friendly and has thepotential to mitigate climate change via decreasing the amount ofcarbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
In the 2019 Hokkaido Summer Institute course “Wood construction inarctic region,” which ran from July 29th to August 1st, students wereable to study wooden structures and visit sites in Hokkaido utilizing
this type of architecture.
Master’s student Yusuke Iwama, a member of the Laboratory ofBuilding Environment with the Graduate School of Engineering,
expressed his enthusiasm. “I’m extremely interested in wood as aresource. I took this course because timber structures areenvironmentally friendly, and I wanted to learn more about them.”

The first half of the course was composed of lectures so the students
could get a solid understanding of the topic before the site visits andworkshops. In his lecture on wood construction in Finland, Professor
Janne Pihlajaniemi of the University of Oulu explained different typesof wooden architectural styles and showed unique examples of howeach can be utilized to achieve a variety of purposes. In addition tothese technical points, he also wanted to showcase the attraction thatwooden architecture offers from an artistic standpoint. “Woodenstructures offer the same spatial quality of forests—that feeling of being
inside and outside at the same time.”
The students then went on a day trip to Northern Hokkaido and wereable to see how wooden structures are studied, tested, and constructedat the Forest Products Research Institute, Hokkaido Research
Organization, in Asahikawa. Afterwards, they visited and learned about
large wooden structures in the area, including Toma Town Hall andTakasu District Community Center “Furatto.”

Students at Toma Town Hall

Professor Atsushi Takano of Kagoshima University, another one of thecourse conveners, explained that, despite the attractions of woodenarchitecture, it is very important for students to understand they needto think about utilizing them on a case by case basis. “We need to think
about these structures from both an architectural side and forestry side
so we can protect our forests while also reducing our carbon footprint.”

Wooden architecture requires a lot of know-how, with each building type requiring
different construction techniques.

For the workshops towards the end of the course, the students werethen able to develop their ideas on how wooden architecture can beused to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the School ofEngineering in 2021.
“Hokkaido has so many different types of wood, and we should be
developing this more. I hope that through this course the students
learned more about what is possible for wooden structures and will bea part of projects to develop wooden architecture in the future,”commented the head course convener, Associate Professor Taro Mori.

The course participants exploring a nursery primarily made of wood at the Forest
Products Research Institute, Asahikawa

Commemorative photo at the end of the course

Written by Katrina-Kay Alaimo, Ph.D.