If the age of concrete defined the twentieth century, the early twenty-first century has seen the worldwide resurgence of a much older building material: timber.
Project Name: Matière en résonance
Studio Name: Sauerbruch hutton
Location: La Galerie d’Architecture, 11 Rue des Blancs Manteaux, 75004 Paris
Team: Julia Knaak with Lucía Alonso, Isabelle Hartmann, Sabine Hertwig, Claus Marquart, Amelie Schleifenheimer, Kemal Tezcan
Photography: Jan Bitter

This natural resource offers a different vision of modernity, one in which functionality, adaptability, honesty, and beauty may converge – all with an impressively low carbon footprint. Such renewed interest also raises cultural questions at the same time as it reawakens long-standing collective imaginations.

sauerbruch hutton has spent more than two decades exploring and defining many possibilities of timber construction: in their projects, this living material assumes diverse roles, from façade elements to load-bearing structures and modular systems.

With each of these architectural works, the practice expands both the technical and the atmospheric potential of wood.

matière en résonance brings together a wide range of models as well as a curated selection of photographs to present sauerbruch hutton’s ongoing exploration of timber – a material where innovation meets tradition.











