Congress: The 500-Year Dialogue of Yoshino Wood's Sustainable Cultural Heritage

June 2025 | International Congress in Merano, Italy

In our recent address at the International Congress in Merano, we presented a perspective on timber that extends beyond modern sustainability "Trees as Cultural Heritage and Spiritual Guides" the heritage culture of Yoshino Wood in Japan’s Nara Prefecture.

While much of the global discussion focuses on tree preservation as a technical necessity, we offered a view on our relationship with the forest as a living legacy. In Yoshino, tree cultivation has been a continuous, intentional practice for over five centuries. This 500-year horizon challenges the fast-paced nature of modern construction, suggesting that we do not just use wood—we inherit it.

By bringing this Nara-born philosophy to the alpine context of Italy, we explored how architecture can act as a custodian of time. For Kodai and Associates, working with such materials is an act of cultural continuity, bridging the ancient forestry traditions of Japan with the contemporary built environment in Europe.

→ View the Project: Yoshino Wood