Timber Skyscrapers Aren’t Fantasy—Here’s The Research That Proves It

For years, architects have flirted with the idea of tall buildings made from mass timber, an engineered wood product that some argue is more sustainable than resource-intensive, nonrenewable steel.

“Every design firm out there is trying to find more sustainable ways to build—it’s a good business practice,” says Benton Johnson, a structural engineer at SOM. Johnson has been working with Oregon State University to develop and test these new mass-timber structural systems, hoping that his research will help mainstream what’s currently an alternative and novel construction methodology.