Tomoya Matsuzaki is a master’s student at Kyoto Institute of Technology. With support from SJSF Japan, he spent a period of exchange studies at Aalto University in Finland.
At Aalto’s Wood Studio he studied timber architecture, forests and the sustainable use of wood. Together with an international team, he developed a proposal for a phased timber extension of an existing apartment building near Helsinki. The work looked at CLT and glulam structures, how much timber the extension would use, how much carbon it could store, and how evacuation would be planned.
Outside class, the exchange went the other way. In informal woodworking demonstrations, Japanese planes and chisels were introduced to Nordic friends – on one occasion together with his father, whom he invited to show Japanese carpentry tools. A small but meaningful cultural exchange.
Photos: Tomoya Matsuzaki
