Ideas worth spreading

Why we should build wooden skyscrapers

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Michael Green |

TED2013

• February 2013

Building a skyscraper? Forget about steel and concrete, says architect Michael Green, and build it out of … wood. As he details in this intriguing talk, it's not only possible to build safe wooden structures up to 30 stories tall (and, he hopes, higher), it's necessary.

Building a skyscraper? Forget about steel and concrete, says architect Michael Green, and build it out of … wood. As he details in this intriguing talk, it's not only possible to build safe wooden structures up to 30 stories tall (and, he hopes, higher), it's necessary.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

About the speaker

Michael Green

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Michael Green wants to transform an industry that generates almost 40 percent of the world’s carbon emissions -- our built environment -- by creating cities made of natural, carbon-sequestering biomaterial structures instead of concrete and steel.

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This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.