ForestED exhibition in Barcelona

The Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC) presents the exhibition “ForestED – From the Forest to the Building”, which explores the transformative potential of sustainable forest management to promote a new material culture in architecture.

ForestED is a research project that investigates how various local wood species—usually outside the industrial construction circuits—can acquire new structural and architectural uses through scientific analysis, technological innovation, and design. The objective is to foster forest biodiversity, stimulate the rural economy, and contribute to the decarbonization of the building sector. The project is led by Vicente Guallart, founder of IAAC, and Daniel Ibáñez, director of IAAC, with the participation of multidisciplinary teams of architects, forest engineers, and designers from Galicia and Catalonia.

ForestED aims to characterize six forest species that are not commonly used in construction, in order to develop and test structural and architectural wood products: oak, birch, and chestnut from Galicia, and beech, chestnut, and Aleppo pine from Catalonia. Through natural materials, models, full-scale pieces, infographics, and audiovisual content, the exhibition “ForestED – From the Forest to the Building” showcases how local forest resources are transformed into new construction systems that combine ancestral knowledge, material science, and digital fabrication. The exhibition traces the entire process—from forest characterization and wood processing to prototype fabrication and experimental results—featuring excerpts from the project’s documentary filmed in the forests and laboratories of Galicia and Catalonia.

BARCELONA: November 5–16, 2025
VENUE: Oliva Artés, Museum of the History of Barcelona (MUHBA). Carrer d’Espronceda 142–146, (Parc Central del Poblenou), 08018 Barcelona.
More information: https://forested.es/exposicion-forested-barcelona/

As a travelling exhibition, ForestED will tour Galicia, Catalonia, and Madrid, bringing the project to diverse audiences through scientific conferences, professional meetings, and educational programs.

Scientific day at IAAC

The ForestED project held its scientific day at the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia in Barcelona on November 5th. During the event, project partners showcased their activities and research exploring the relationship between forests and the architecture of the future.

The program included two roundtable discussions, focusing on the opportunities offered by the forestry sector through industrialized ecological construction and on the potential of designing sustainable buildings using new forest species. Following the discussions, the ForestED exhibition was inaugurated at Oliva Artés. Museu d’Història de Barcelona, where it will be open to the public free of charge from November 5 to 16.