Forum for Wood Architecture

The Forum for Wood Architecture is an NPO which aims to restructure our living environment by placing special emphasis on the cyclical use of timber　resources in buildings

We are seeking to promote greater use of wood, which is an environmentally friendly and recyclable natural resource, in order to help create a more comfortable and sustainable living environment.

Learning from the deep wisdom and technical skills of our forbears, we would like to put forward proposals for new ways of using wood in architecture and recreate a way of life in which wood plays a prominent role.

Fortunately, the need for an approach to forest management that strikes a balance between the protection of the environment and the provision of wood as a natural resource is now widely appreciated. Moreover, natural building materials have come to be more highly thought of and social perceptions of wood architecture are moving in an increasingly positive direction.

However as a result of amendments to the Japanese building codes and the enactment of a new law concerning the quality of materials, there is a social requirement for wood architecture to be more scientific and to guarantee high product performance.

In the light of this, concrete actions of the following kind seem to us necessary, in order to promote a lifestyle of high quality which can nevertheless coexist harmoniously with the natural environment:

-       The provision of accurate up to date information and practical technical data about wood

-       The promotion of safe and comfortable wood architecture appropriate in every case to its regional context

-       The adoption of approaches to urban development which encourage the continued existence of high quality traditions of wood architecture as a social resource.

-       The establishment of a social educational system to train technical experts, architects, craftsmen, and researchers.

Our goals therefore are:

-       To offer a meeting place for people who are involved with wood architecture either as suppliers or consumers in fields such as forestry, saw-mill management, wood processing, design, construction, research, education and government administration.

-       To set up a worldwide network for the exchange of information and research in this field and to seek ways of making the results publicly available.

-       To contribute to creating a living environment which meets the needs of each particular region.

- Renovation of Japanese traditional vernacular houses

- Modern timber building based on traditional techniques

- Wood as a building material

- Timber structural engineering

- Organizing international forums

- Exchange and dissemination of technical information

- Q&A (A counseling service concerning wood and timber architecture)

- Dispatch of instructors and lecturers

- Support, cooperation and encouragement for other groups or organizations concerned with wood architecture

- Publication of “NPO Wood Architecture” 3 times a year

- Issue of a “Forum Newsletter” every 2 months

- Operation of a website

- Editing and publication of books related to wood architecture

1. Download the application form from our website and print it out.

Fill out the form and fax it to our office in Tokyo at

(++81-3-5840-6406)

―Application Form (click here)―

2. Pay the annual membership fee at your bank or at a post office and send it ( telegraphically if from abroad ) to our account at either the UFJ Bank or the Post Office ( details as below ).

Account Number: 3869267 at the Tsukishima Branch of UFJ Bank

NPO Ki no Kenchiku Forum (Forum for Wood Architecture)

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Or

Account Number: 00150-6-37295 at the Post Office

NPO Ki no Kenchiku Forum (Forum for Wood Architecture)

３．  After receipt of your membership fee has been confirmed, we will send you your membership card, and the latest editions of 　the newsletter and the journal (both of which are available only in Japanese).