Aiming for a heaviness: implementing a heaviness with wood as building material on a bed & box retreat

Abstract

This thesis investigates the possibility to express a heaviness through wooden structures in architecture. The historical reference and inspiration to our thesis is the style of brutalism architecture. The thesis aims to display how to achieve a heaviness in the expression using wood instead of other often-used heavy material such as stone, brick, and concrete. By replacing other heavy materials with wood, we allow the expression of heaviness to be achieved sustainably. We strongly believe that using renewable building material is the answer to sustainable architecture. In the shift to sustainable architecture, we do not need to lose the expression of heaviness in architecture. This thesis is primarily research by design-driven, where we are working with drawings and models to find out how we can implement our theory and research of heaviness into our design proposal. Our focus lies on the aesthetic qualities and the perceived experience of heaviness within architecture. We believe that strong and good architecture relies on its proportions and expression. To achieve the heaviness we searched for, we needed to conduct model studies and to study different reference projects that have already achieved this. It was also in our interest to investigate how the expression of heaviness affected our perception of space. By looking at the history of wooden buildings internationally and in the Nordic, we gain knowledge of how to contribute to contemporary wooden architecture in Sweden. With our thesis, we want to highlight glulam and CLT as building materials when creating contemporary architecture. Our design proposal is a Bed & Box retreat where we bring horses and people together under the same roof. Our design proposal is an attempt to highlight the relationship between animals and architecture as well as the interaction and joined experience between people, animals, and architecture.