WCTE 2023: World Conference on Timber Engineering in Oslo, Norway
The World Conference on Timber Engineering (WCTE) is the largest global and most prestigious scientific conference in engineering research on wood used as a building material. The Wood4Bauhaus Alliance was invited for a keynote speech given by Uwe Kies.
The WCTE 2023 was held from 19-22 June 2023 in Oslo, the capital of Norway. The conference brought together about 900 participants from all over the world, to exchange on the latest trends and research findings in wood as a building material. More than 600 peer-reviewed papers were presented by attending scientists, engineers, architects and educators in over 91 parallel thematic sessions covering all research fields and topics. A rich social programme included a reception by the Mayor at the Townhall of Oslo, a conference evening dinner and closing ceremony, in addition to accompanying conference tours and side events.
Wood4Bauhaus keynote presentation
Uwe Kies, Secretary General of InnovaWood and chair of the Wood4Bauhaus Alliance, was invited to give a keynote on the European policy context and research trends in timber construction. In his talk, he presented the EC’s New European Bauhaus initiative and the key recommendations of the Wood4Bauhaus Alliance. Wood, the main climate-neutral or climate-negative building material, can thus contribute to rethink cities as carbon sinks and become a main lever for climate restoration. Further research, innovation, skills development and policy incentives are needed to boost the ‘timber (r)evolution’ in the built environment.
Read the presentation: ‘Europe’s green transformation in policy, industry and society discovers wood science and innovation’.
We are thankful to the WCTE 2023 Conference Chairs Kjell Arne Malo, Anders Q. Nyrud, Kristine Norea and Knut Werner Lindeberg Alsén for giving the Wood4Bauhaus initiative this platform.
International trends in timber construction
The other keynote presentations at WCTE 2023 offered a global overview of the topic:
- Åge Holmestad, senior expert from Moelven Limtre, presented many award-wining projects in his talk ‘Large timber structures in Norway’.
- Andrea Frangi, Professor for Timber Structures at the ETH Zürich, Switzerland gave an inspiring overview of ‘Fire Safety Timber Engineering – past, present and future’.
- Jennifer Cover, President and CEO of WoodWorks, USA, presented the US perspective on ‘Innovative Engineering for a Sustainable Future’.
- Thorsen Kjetil Trædal Thorsen, renown worldclass architect from Oslo, Norway, introduced visionary works of his practice in ‘Our Common Future’.
- Keith Crews, Professor & Director of the Australian Research Council Research Hub, Queensland, introduced ‘A Perspective of the Development and Use of Timber in the Built Environment of Australia and New Zealand’.
Scientific Conference
During the rich 4-day programme, more than 600 peer-reviewed papers and posters were presented. The over 40 parallel thematic sessions covered the entire range of research fields and topics, including connections, fire engineering, structural modelling, analysis and design, performance and materials, mixed, composite and hybrid structures, timber architecture, building systems, vibrations and acoustics, restoration, circular design for sustainability, among many others. The full collection of papers can be found in the published WCTE 2023 conference proceedings:
- World Conference on Timber Engineering (WCTE 2023). Proceedings. Timber for a Livable Future. Eds. Nyrud, A. Q. and Malo, K. A. et al. Published by Curran Associates Inc. ISBN 9781713873273. 4,635 pages.
The members of the W4B Alliance were represented with the following contributions:
- DIGITAL TWIN FRAMEWORK FOR VISUAL EXPLORATION OF MATERIAL FLOWS AND CARBON IMPACTS OF ENGINEERED WOOD SUPPLY CHAINS FROM FOREST TO BUILDINGS. Stephan Ott, Andreas Rudena, Uwe Kies, Anna Wagner, Oliver Jancke. TU Munich, Paramountric, InnovaWood.
- HARDWOOD GLULAM IN COMPLEX STRUCTURES: DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF THE MACA MUSEUM IN URUGUAY. Vanesa Baño, Leandro Domenech, Carlos Mazzey, Thomas Vieillard, Jean-Bernard Journot. InnovaWood.
- INFLUENCE OF DENSITY AND PREDRILL IN THE EMBEDMENT STRENGTH OF TWO HARDWOOD SPECIES. Gonzalo Cabrera, Gonzalo Moltini, Vanesa Baño. InnovaWood.
- STRUCTURAL YIELD OF HARDWOOD VS. SOFTWOOD GLULAM BEAMS IN URUGUAY. Vanesa Baño, Carolina Pérez-Gomar, Daniel Godoy, Laura Moya. Universidad de la República, Ministerio de Vivienda y Ordenamiento Territorial, Universidad ORT, InnovaWood. (WCTE2023 presentation, paper in prep)
- DENSIFIED WOODEN NAIL FOR ADHESIVE- AND METAL-FREE TIMBER ASSEMBLES. Lei Han, Dusan Pauliny, Anna Sandak, Mariapaola Riggio, Andreja Kutnar, Dick Sandberg and Jakub Sandak. InnoRenew CoE, University of Primorska, Oregon State University, Luleå University of Technology.
The work and results presented have partly received funding from the EC Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme for the BASAJAUN project under grant agreement no. 862942.
About WCTE
The World Conference on Timber Engineering (WCTE) is the world’s leading scientific forum and the most prestigious international event in the field of timber technology for construction, timber structures, and the design of timber architecture. The conference attracts between 800 and 1,200 participants and is held every other year on a different continent, bringing together researchers, engineers, architects, consultants, contractors, project managers, suppliers, and manufacturers from across the globe. The series of conferences started in 1984 in Auckland, New Zealand. Since 1998 in Montreux, Switzerland, it is known as the WCTE.
The WCTE 2023 was co-hosted by the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), The Oslo School of Architecture and Design (AHO) and the City of Oslo. The conference was funded by Innovation Norway and a list of various sponsors from public organisations and industries.
The next WCTE 2025 will be held in Brisbane, Australia, co-organised by the Australian Research Council and the University of Queensland.
The following WCTE 2027 will be held in Edmonton, Canada, hosted by the University of Alberta.
More info: wcte2023.org | WCTE 2023 Press release | WCTE @ LinkedIn
