The Barcelona Museu del Disseny and the Blume publishing house are publishing 'Toquem fusta! Disseny, fusta i sostenibilitat’ [Touch Wood! Design, Wood and Sustainability], a broad vision of the current applications of wood in construction, the automobile industry, aeronautics, textiles, acoustics, health and energy in benefit of the sustainability of the planet.
Toquem fusta! – written by the director of Barcelona’s Museu del Disseny, Pilar Vélez, and Martí Boada, geographer and environmental specialist – looks at objects and artefacts made of wood, such as weapons, tools, games, building materials, furniture, etc., from the perspective of history, design and sustainability.
In her foreword, Pilar Vélez explains that “the historical and cultural value of wood, which has been diminished and even forgotten due to its ‘consumability’, must be restored”. If the 19th century was known as the century of iron, and the 20th as the century of concrete, the 21st century should be the century of wood, says the director of the Museu del Disseny. Wood as an essential material in the circular bioeconomy, part of the formula for the ‘biocity’. A transformation that would be based on “the use of resources that are both local and renewable to produce goods and services across all economic sectors”, says Martí Boada, because “the need for a paradigm shift is imperative”.
One of the last chapters is dedicated to the MHM house (Mòdul Hàbitat Mediterrani), a modular industrialised home that responds to climatic conditions in our environment, and that closes the exhibition ‘Toquem fusta’. The exhibition focuses on wood as a key material at the service of human cultural evolution, and will be on display at Barcelona’s Museu del Disseny from 9 November 2022 to 22 January 2023.
Illustrated directory of trees
The last part of the book includes illustrations of 30 species of trees and types of wood from the Mediterranean region, with information about their characteristics, growth, flowering, fruiting and some of their traditional uses.
