"Tall Timber: The Future of Cities in Wood," a multimedia exhibition highlighting the use of mass timber in the design and construction of multi-story buildings, opens Friday, Feb. 7, in the first floor corridor of Vol Walker Hall on the University of Arkansas campus.

On display through March 24, the exhibition features models, videos and informational graphics. This exhibition is part of the public exhibition series in the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design.

Its installation and opening also coincides with the 2025 Arkansas Mass Timber Conference, held Feb. 7-9 in Vol Walker Hall and co-presented by the Fay Jones School and the architecture and planning firm ISG. Some work in the exhibition is by professional practices and designers who are presenting at the conference.

The "Tall Timber" exhibition was recently installed at the Skyscraper Museum in New York.

The work explores how wood, one of humanity's oldest construction materials, offers a path to a more sustainable built environment. An emerging system of building materials called mass timber is being used in ways that avoid the "carbon cost" of traditional high-rise construction in concrete and steel. And wood is a renewable resource when forests are responsibly managed.

The technology of mass timber relies on manufacturing wood products that are much bigger, stronger, fire resistive, and more durable than common lumber or plywood. Architects and builders use computers to design and precisely construct or cut giant puzzle pieces of structure that are transported to and assembled on site.

To date, mass timber building systems have been used in only around 100 high-rises worldwide since the first nine-story project in 2009. But its popularity is spreading, and buildings are growing taller, with structures up to 18 stories now covered by the International Building Code.

Mass timber can greatly reduce the harmful environmental impact of new buildings. The traditional materials of high-rise construction, steel and concrete, are produced by extractive industries that mine and heat the raw materials, thereby consuming even more carbon — called "embodied energy."

By contrast, during photosynthesis trees turn sunlight into oxygen and capture and store, or "sequester," carbon long term. Compared to conventional concrete and steel construction, the use of mass timber can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 60 percent.

Tall buildings multiply these benefits, especially through high-density urbanism. This exhibition examines recent tall buildings in mass timber and proposals for its role in a more sustainable, low-carbon future for our cities and our planet.

Works that make up the exhibition include architectural models of Framework (courtesy of LEVER Architecture); Flora (courtesy of MGA | Michael Green Architecture); River Beech Tower (by Perkins & Will with Thornton Tomasetti, University of Cambridge, Pepper Construction, and Autodesk); Terrace House (by Shigeru Ban Architects); and Proto-Model X (by Gensler), and an architectural detail model of 475 West 18th Street (by SHoP Architects).

The exhibition also features graphic panels from CAC (Chicago Architecture Center) that illustrate "From Forest to Fabrication," as well as samples of cross-laminated timber (CLT) and glue-laminated timber (GLT).

In addition, display monitors show videos of CLT factory production, courtesy of Kallesoe Machinery; WIDC (Wood Innovation and Design Center), courtesy of Michael Green Architecture; Albina Yard construction, courtesy of LEVER Architecture; and Ascent construction and fire testing from the CAC, with permission from the U.S. Forest Service and Thornton Tomasetti.

Admission to the exhibition is free. The exhibition is located on the first floor of Vol Walker Hall, and it is open to the public from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.