Book Review of "Wood Reimagined: Sustainable Architecture With Engineered Wood Products"
Balkan University Press has the unique pleasure of sharing the endorsement for the book "Wood Reimagined: Sustainable Architecture With Engineered Wood Products" by the esteemed David Kusuma.
Design and Architecture are powerful tools for shaping our domestic landscapes and enhancing
our economic, social, and cultural activities. The modern world is constantly being
challenged by significant population increases, depletion of natural resources, and disruption
by quickly evolving technological changes. This is why I am highly enthusiastic about this new
book on engineered wood products. The book focuses on wood as both a traditional material as
well as a high-technology material, and it highlights how wood is one of the most sustainable
and environmentally friendly materials available for construction, furniture, and other
product uses.
Engineered Wood Products in Contemporary Architecture can serve as a very informative
reference on engineered wood and composite materials, and it does an excellent job of
bridging the science of wood materials with the beauty and elegance of what is possible
through the application of innovative ideas and material processes. The book is extremely well
organized and provides expert guidance on how each wood product is manufactured; it also
captures the pros and cons for each version, and it provides useful knowledge to assist in the
practice of good decision-making. While the structure of the book is focused primarily on
architectural applications, it can also serve as a valuable reference for all designers and
engineers to use for any building, furniture, or product application that must use wood as the
primary material. It works to simplify complex chemistry and processes into information that is
easy to understand, and it explains how wood can be highly adaptable and recyclable while
offering greater design freedom to develop solutions which can create new benefits for
communities around the world.
Foremost of importance, I’m also pleased that this book aligns perfectly with the United
Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), through a World Design Agenda
championed by members of the World Design Organization (WDO) in our mission to “Design for
a Better World” and to raise human dignity and quality of life on our planet. Established by
representatives from national professional associations, promotional organizations, education
institutions, corporations, and cities, the World Design Agenda is a strategic plan established as
a call to action to activate our global community to develop and deliver design-led solutions
that contribute to the success of the UN SDGs, with the promise to bring about positive
environmental and social impact.
David Kusuma
President 2022-2023, World Design Organization (WDO)
