Materiality and Plasticity of Wood

The processing and building of wood is a necessary procedure for engineers and architects as wood is not only used for furniture but is used in establishing buildings and houses. The concept of materiality means that whatever our bodies make direct contacts with, such as a warm wooden handle or a cold metal door or even a hard glass window, all these items create a different atmosphere and environment if they were the exact opposite of what they are now, for instance, a hard glass handle, a metal wall or a warm wooden window. This refers to the fact that materiality is considered to be as important as form, location or function and is considered to be inseparable from all the three factors. Therefore, it is important to keep in mind the materiality and the plasticity of a product, which in this case is wood, while purchasing products that are made from this kind of product. 

It can be argued that wood itself is considered to be one of the oldest and the most traditional building materials all over the world, and the most usable form of wood for construction is timber. This type of material is taking new heights due to its luxurious properties including its being translucent and having diverse properties and is used in wood products as well as buildings. Similarly, it is stated that wood has initially been used as material for building and construction processes for more than thousands of years, following the building material stone regarding its rich history of constructing sites and products. It can be argued that the chemical properties of woods are naturally considered to be a complex phenomenon but even with this hardship for manufacturers and consumers, the certain individuals have been successful in harnessing the material features of wood used to build and construct a large number of structures including schools, universities, homes, hospitals, business buildings, banks, etc. In addition to this, this versatile material is also used in the making of furniture and the industry of home décor as well, which further enhances the properties of materiality and plasticity of wood, leading to much better-finished products for the consumers to purchase.

Moreover, it can be stated that keeping the materiality of wood in mind, one can state that the biggest advantage of using wood as a material for building is its abundance as a natural resource which automatically makes it obtainable and accessible without any hardships and makes it economically approachable and practical. It is considered to be strong regarding its weight and mass, and it also provides to be a great insulator from the cold. In addition to these factors, another advantage is that wood is generally considered to be a highly constructible and machinable and can usually be fabricated into various types of shapes and sizes so that it can fit practically any construction necessity and this generally happens only through its plasticity methods where the wood is heated enough to be bent in the required shape and size. Similarly, it is stated that wood in its raw form is also an example of an environmentally feasible asset, as it is considered to be both renewables since it is a natural resource and biodegradable since it holds the natural organic properties. Additionally, it also is easily approachable and usable as no high level of energy fossil fuels are necessary for the production of wood unlike during the production of other construction materials such as metal, steel, stone or even plastic.

There are many types of wood used in construction, for instance, timber, lumber, and engineered wood. However, in general, wood has initially been classified into two basic categories of wood, which are the ‘Hardwood’ which consists of any leaf-bearing tree; and ‘Softwood’ which consists of a cone-bearing tree. It can be argued that the hardwood that is used in construction is basically considered to be a much heavier and denser product than the production of softwood. Hardwood is mainly used in the construction of hard surface areas such as walls, making of floors and ceilings, while at the same time softwood is specifically used to make doors, furniture, and frames of windows. A major example of hardwood includes an oak tree among other trees such as maple, mahogany, walnut and cherry wood. A major example of softwood includes pine trees, among other wood such as ash, beach, and cider wood.

Furthermore, the wood that is used in construction projects, emphasizing the materiality and plasticity of wood, carries many benefits for the manufacturers and the purchasers regarding the production of wood. Keeping this in mind, one particular benefit is referred to as its thermal properties, which gives it a direct benefit in terms of its resistance to a high rise in the temperatures. Unlike manufacturing products such as steel, which can usually easily expand or even collapse in a high level of heat, the wood usually gets dried out and becomes stronger with the increase in the heat, referring to the concept of plasticity of wood. Similarly, during the construction of this natural resource, the conductivity of heat in relation to wood is proportionately low as compared to other materials such as the production of marble, glass or even steel. This further enhances the capabilities of wood in terms of being used in a variety of usable assets such as matches, in the handles of hardware equipment, wall coverings, as well as ceilings.
            Having stated that, wood also is known to contain a high number of acoustic properties, where it can be said that it can absorb sound as well as the echoes and is particularly considered to be a favorite material that is used for the constructions where there is a need of proper acoustics and where it is important, such as halls for music halls. Wood is even unaffected by electricity, making it a feasible and attractive material for electrical insulation, thus keeping away from electrocution. Another main important feature of wood is the extra-ordinary strength it holds, which is known to be its ability to flex under immense pressure without constantly breaking. In addition, wood is actually unusually light as compared to its stretchable strength, which automatically makes it the favorable construction option for surfaces that require a continuous beating for instance in the making of basketball courts and for bowling areas. The concept of stretchable strength is also one of the major reasons for using timber as a material for construction over all other materials and its well-built qualities make it the most appropriate option for heavy-duty machinery and building materials such as beams. Similarly, it is stated that regarding the many types of construction materials, wood is a particularly versatile product and is one of the most usable products for manufacturing products.

It can be argued that regarding the plasticity of wood, it is stated that with exceptional usage of heat on the wood, it can indeed transform the wood into a plastic form, which is used to bend wood and maintain its bent shape. This type of bentwood shows the importance of plasticity of wood and is used in manufacturing products which is later purchased by consumers.

While keeping the plasticity and the materiality of construction of wood in mind, it is important to note the repercussions of wood on the consumer and the manufacturer along with the seller, including the supplier, the designer and the other companies and industries that are included in providing the materials or the products for the finished product that is to be used by the consumers. Currently, knowing the factors that influence the people’s choices in buying wooden furniture is low and this lack of knowledge regarding this issue not only affects the consumers but also the industries that are involved in producing the finished products. It is stated that ‘in order to help the consumers understand the choices that they make regarding purchasing wooden products, it is important to acknowledge a consumer orientation,’ as is argued by Nesai 2009 and Kemerly, 2012, where both of them argue that the consumer purchasing behavior gives crucial and important information about the consumer and their following patterns of consumption of products. The companies can then supply and fulfill the needs and demands of consumers with an understanding based on consumer orientation and this further illustrates the importance of studying consumer behavior. (Hawkins, 2006). Also, it is arguable that the manufacturers should consider their customer requests along with their buying behaviors (Kotler, 2009; Solomon, 2009) to build effective and efficient marketing strategies so they can sell products while increasing the demand of those products, which is wood or wooden furniture in this case.

In the contemporary period, the customers purchasing wooden products are more informed about their products and are more demanding in this matter. Thus, the companies that are designed based on manufacturing wood have to keep the major objective of finding their basic wants and needs of the consumers by understanding the particular consumer behavior, and thus they need to produce products for consumer satisfaction. It is argued that many studious scholars have worked on consumer satisfaction with wooden furniture, and state that the most important factors of furniture are its quality the price of the product, its desirable design and also the color of the furniture. (Ozanne and Smith, 1996).

Noting this view, it is important to take all these factors under consideration while assessing the impact of wood on purchasing furniture by the consumers. The concept of quality is linked to the supremacy and excellence of a product while having a set standard of products has focused on categorizing quality into two basic categories that are the ‘objective’ and ‘perceived’. The quality referring to the concept of ‘objective’ describes the technologically supremacy and dominance of a product, while the perceived quality is known as the consumer’s own personal judgment about the superiority of the product. Also, the value of the product solely relies on the talents and skills of the laborers working on the products. The products that are produced by skillful labor not only results in the neatly finished products but also in their durability. (Rust et al., 2000). Additionally, the assessment and management criteria of perceived quality consist of the type of wood that is used in the construction process, types of construction links, and the overall details regarding construction. 

Similarly, price is considered to be one of the most important and necessary factors regarding the choice of customers when purchasing furniture. Consequently, the retailers should negotiate on setting up multiple price ranges of the wooden furniture products to respond to diverse customers’ needs. Markets need to set a lower price, by the retailers. In addition to this, the desirable design of wooden furniture can greatly affect customer satisfaction. Also, according to Leslie and Reimer (2003), wood furniture consumption is driven by the desire to replace old fashioned designs with new ones that serve both the conveniences but also the changing lifestyles.

Furthermore, the color of the finished product can help the furniture items become more attractive and desirable. Also, with the help of color identification and usage in products, it adds up to one of the areas of marketing about consumers’ choices in diverse cultures and their perception of different types of colors.

While assessing the materiality and plasticity of wood, it is important to note an example of the building process and production of wood, specifically the construction of Timber from wood, that is used in many products based on wood. Timber is used for construction and is considered to be one of the varieties of forest products all around the globe. It is used in buildings, furniture, and other home décor products. ( Dinwoodie, 2000)  Arguably, there are many possibilities of designs of timber, and construction is based on cultural practices and engineering and timber are eventually used in structures where it carries its self-weight. Also, timber and other engineered - forestry products are one of the largest value holding products that are emerged from trees. The structural use of timber is important for economies that solely rely on forestry. In addition to this, timber as a raw material itself has many economic advantages for construction purposes as the timber is prepared and processed in factories and is brought to sites for quick assembly. Thus, both the national and the global markets are existing and are available for the purchase of timber. Furthermore, it is important to critically analyze the construction of timber and the environmental impact of the usage of timber, where the trees are used as a resource, while the wood cell biology is the structure that is to be followed by the production of timber, including forestry and management skills and practices and the processing of timber into products along with its durability, design, and engineering for large-scale application and multiple usages of timber as a processed product.

It can be argued that during the wood processing of timber, certain modification methods are used to increase and enhance the durability of the product and its stability. The first method of modification is known as Impregnation, which refers to the Lumina and cavities present in the cell walls of the wood that are filled with bulking chemicals. These chemicals don’t react to that great extent with the wood polymers and thus it can increase the density of the wood and block certain pathways for the flow of water. Similarly, the Chemical Modification is another method where there are chemical reagents that are applied externally and they react directly with the phenyl groups as well as the hydroxyl groups of the cell wall polymers. This automatically reduces the hygroscopicity. Then, another method of wood modification is known as Thermal Modification and it is used to improve the stability of wood as well as the durability of wood against biodegradation and bio-pollution. The treatment regarding industrial heat usually occurs in a dry atmosphere.

It is stated that the increased use of timber does not, in fact, need to raise issues and problems regarding deforestation as there are a large number of initiatives that eventually seek to regulate the source and origin of timber to make it sure that it is availed from responsibly managed forests. Forests form a part of the natural supply network for the two types of wood timbers that are initially used in the factories of construction for wood. Also, the supply network regarding the process of timber is considered to be unique as the prerequisites for timber is that the topsoil should remain undamaged, the seedlings are permitted to be germinated and that the forests are to be taken care of before any timber can be harvested into a processed finished product. In addition to this, it is arguable that while meeting the level of the demand for production of timber, as the forests can also make a highly useful contribution to not only the society, but also to the ecology and biodiversity in general, and even help curb the climate change by trying to balance the international carbon issues in one way or the other.

Moreover, it is noted that the international supply chain for wood is a diverse network of wood harvesters, processors and finally the distributors of wood. Due to a great increase in the concerns regarding the unmaintainable use of tropical hardwood, the use of the international schemes of certification for timber such as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is now more prevalent.

It is important to note the stages of timber processing, where the first stage is wood harvesting. The timber is transformed into Roundwood, where the branches of the felled trees are removed and the trunks are trimmed to a similar length for shipping of timber. According to statistics regarding the UK Forestry Commission, it is stated that a single number of a machine has the ability to harvesting timber up to 60,000 tonnes per annum. (Moore, 2009)  also, it would take around 24 technical operators to reach this specific output on a manual basis. Similarly, in Northern areas of Europe, the end result of 18 m³ per machine hour can be achieved easily with a skilled mechanical workforce while cutting softwood trunks as well of  0.3 m³. Also, the dulling and the operations of mechanized harvesting are highly mechanized for satisfactory productivity, specifically where around 100 percent of logging is wholly based on machinery, integrating cut-to-length systems.

Furthermore, it can be argued that timber usage is considered to have a life of the constructed building itself, and also to resist the environmental conditions and natural disasters faced by the areas where timber is used. The use of timber in bigger building structures depends mainly on the engineering designs to make sure that the building can maintain its structural integrity for enough time for the people in the building to be evacuated or for the fire to be extinguished completely.  Similarly, wooden properties have a major link to moisture, as the mechanical properties of timber are directly linked with moisture, thus a high moisturized area makes the wood exposed to an attack by fungi, bacteria or even insects. In addition to this, having a basic aim to a prolonged lifespan of timber, the European Parliament has established a flow use principle for wood, which suggests that the wood should be used in the wood-based products, then re-using the wood, bioenergy, and finally the disposal. Following this principle, it is necessary to use wood resources for construction products where the product’s lifespan is long. (Adhikari, Ozarska, 2018)

Moreover, it can be argued that there are certain advantages of using wood as a building material in the products while at the same time there are certain disadvantages regarding wood about its materiality and plasticity. Wood is regarded as an organic, natural material, with its thermal properties, its acoustic and electrical functions and its mechanical properties that make wood more suitable to be used.

The benefits are that it is widely known that many materials are transformed in sizes, shapes, and volume with the change in the temperature. These materials either fully expand with an increase in the temperature or contract with a decrease in temperature. It is stated that wood typically does not practically transform towards expansion against heat. In contrast, it dries out and gains strength through a high level of heat. This refers to the plasticity of wood and in practice, the level of humidity of wood does not deteriorate under 5% even when the atmosphere is the driest. The specific level of heat of wood is high, which means that an increase in the level of energy is required in order to change the temperature of wood by either increasing it or decreasing it. Similarly, wood prevents echo and noise creation by absorbing these noises. Regarding the electrical properties, it is important to note the fact that static electricity that is fatal for human beings is not seen in wood unlike metal and plastic, which is why wood is preferred for construction purposes where there is water and electricity. The mechanical properties are seen in a way that even though wood is initially a light material, it has a high level of strength. In addition, the usage of wood is preferred to avoid products from becoming rusty when necessary. Also, the variety of wood is an advantage for different companies and industries working on wood as they keep different types of wood to attract consumers to purchase their specific kind of wood products.

In contrast to the advantages, there are certain disadvantages of wood as well such as the swelling of certain types of wood as it absorbs condensable vapors. Also, wood can be deteriorated in two ways, through the biotic agents, which include biological decay of wood with the attack of fungi, various types of bacteria and specific insects and through the abiotic agents that include the natural resources such as sun, water, wind and also fire. In addition to this, the production of timber processing also has certain negative impacts on the environment where the production takes place, specifically on the utilization of wood, on the forests, as it leads to deforestation, including the effects of tree logging and tree harvesting on the environment, environmental pollution that is caused by the operations occurred by the workers of the factories and finally the mitigation of environmental degradation that is caused by the activities of forest industries. All of these negatively impact the area where this occurs, leading to loss of biodiversity.

            Furthermore, while assessing the process of the materiality of wood, it is important to note the impact on the workforce of the forest industries. Certain indicators assist in assessing the social and economic impacts of the forest industry on the workforce who depend wholly on the forestry for their livelihood. The indicators include the income that is earned by them; the work injury rates; the self-rated physical and mental health of the workforce; the well-being of the workers; their age and gender; the attachment to that particular place; the cultural and family attachment to forestry; and finally the educational qualifications and the skills of the workforce. These indicators show the characteristics of the workers in the forestry industry as compared to the labor force in other businesses and how their well-being changes over time. However, in timber foresting processing factories, it is stated that the workforce is treated exceptionally good as compared to another workforce of forestry as timber is a unique wood product and is used in a large number of constructions, including sites and the establishment of furniture.

            Finally, it can be concluded that the materiality and plasticity of wood are important to note as the wood itself is an important natural resource and is used worldwide in many construction sites and products, and is comparatively more advantageous than the other materials that are used in similar products and construction sites.

 

References

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