Timber Behaviorology

Abstract

The work of Atelier Bow-Wow has, over the last 29 years, turned to exploring what they call behaviorology: the full social and cultural effects of constructing architecture. Through collaborations with local craftsmen, wood specialists, timber management companies, house construction companies as well as architectural design studios in Japan and Switzerland they unlock the potentials of local timber networks. This interview with Momoyo Kaijima, founding partner of Atelier Bow-Wow, examines this aspect of their work, and places “timber behavoriology” in the context of an expanded scale of design: from forestry, to communities, to codes, to cultural history, to seismic details, and, somewhere in between, architecture.