New wood architecture - nesting on the rooftops of London

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    The Wood Program of the Department of Architecture, Helsinki University of Technology, together with the Finnish Insitute in London, have launched an architectural competition titled ‘The Nest'. The multi-disciplinary wood team will design and build a wooden structure that will be situated on the rooftop of the Finnish Institute in London's building, in Holborn, in the middle of the City of London. The Nest will be launched during London Festival of Architecture in June 2010. The project aims to showcase new Finnish wood architecture and network the students, staff and alumni of the future Aalto University internationally.

    The principal task of the multi-talented and international group is to design a space that the personnel and visitors of the Finnish Institute can use in different events and gatherings. The space will be used as a place for lunch of coffee breaks, for meetings of the staff and partners of the Institute and for multiple get-together parties.

    The Nest will be designed to be innovative and surprising, to provide visitors an architectural experience worth remembering. The structure will be as ecological, aesthetical, ethical and economical as possible. The structure is to be built in elements that can be quickly and cleverly installed and re-installed. The ecological footprint of the structure will be minimised.

    The Nest will be created in three phases: at first all the students will develop their own architectural concept; second, one of the concepts is chosen before the end of 2009 to be developed further in groups by all the students; and finally all the students design the structure in detail over Spring 2010 and manufacture it to be assembled in elements at the final site in London.

    The idea of the Nest is to present Finnish design and innovation, knowledge of wood construction and the internationally top quality know how of the new Aalto University. The Wood Studio's work will be presented to an international architectural community, and various events and talks will be organized in collaboration with British partners to discuss innovative wood architecture.

    http://arkkitehtuuri.tkk.fi/engl/woodprog/