Presentation of the first Ibois Notebook

The Ibois laboratory is glad to announce you the presentation of the first Ibois Notebook, on Tuesday 29 September 2020.

The Ibois Notebooks are a biannual editorial initiative by the Laboratory for Timber Constructions IBOIS at EPFL.

Editorial concept
The Ibois notebooks offer a societal, ecological, cultural and political radiography of wood construction.

Through works and critical analyses by authors from various disciplines, these editions reveal the structuring, at times contradictory, and often underestimated role of timber construction in the development of architecture over the last three centuries. This biannual editorial project gives readers an overview of a unique interdisciplinary story.

Going beyond the distinction established between humanities and applied sciences, the notebooks will establish alternative filiations for innovative wood construction. Behind this original and crossdisciplinary panorama, where researchers, builders and historians question the potential of a material, is the ambition of a radical change, as evidenced both by the research and the achievements of the EPFL’s Laboratory for Timber Constructions.

Ibois Notebook n°1
Three authors are inaugurating this first edition of the Ibois notebooks, the biannual editorial initiative of the EPFL laboratory dedicated to innovative wood construction:
Françoise Fromonot revisits the heroic epic of Jørn Utzon and what he tried, and failed, to realise during the construction of the Sydney Opera House. Stéphane Berthier offers a rather complete panorama of the place of the Ibois in the constellation of laboratories developing computer-aided design and manufacturing techniques. As for Yann Rocher, he strives to establish the many constructive and symbolic links between the material used to build the wooden Pavilion of the Théâtre de Vidy and its function as a stage.

We are delighted to present the publication on 29 September, from 6.30pm at Archizoom (Foyer SG, EPFL).
Professor Weinand and Christophe Catsaros will present the work and the challenges of an interdisciplinary vision.
Julien Notter and Sébastien Vigne will also present their grafic work for this original editorial project.

In compliance with EPFL health guidelines, seats are limited. Please notice that registration (click here) and face mask are required.
The launch will also be broadcast via zoom available via this link.