From forests to architectures

Trees, Governance, and the Making of Urban Natures, workshop for accepted authors, Istituto de Studi Urbani e del Paesaggio, Lugano, 10–15 May 2026

This presentation examines the role of sociotechnical imaginaries of architects during the process of transition to urban timber construction. The concept of sociotechnical imaginaries, introduced by science and technology studies scholar Sheila Jasanoff, describes ‘collectively held, institutionally stabilized and publicly performed visions of desirable futures, animated by shared understandings of forms of social life and social order attainable through, and supportive of, advances in science and technology’. I examine how the imaginaries of architects planning with timber contribute to the position of the material, which exists a in tension between commodity, in its role as a processed and standardized product, and ecosystem, as it comes from living – and often struggling – forest landscapes.

This presentation paper has been accepted as a chapter of a forthcoming publication.

More information
https://www.arc.usi.ch/it/feeds/14569