Wood Dimensional Changes
When creating wooden structures, architects and designers must consider the impact of moisture content on the size of the wood pieces. As wood absorbs or releases moisture, it can either contract or expand accordingly.
I partnered with researcher Rafael Passarelli to develop these first-of-its-kind interactive visualizations that show how much wood changes its size in different cities of the world.
We created a database of temperature, humidity, and moisture content in selected cities. The data was used to demonstrate the dimensional changes of selected wood species during the year in different cities, both in absolute and relative terms.
Absolute change refers to how much a piece of green wood shrinks as it dries. The relative change shows how much a piece of wood can still change after achieving equilibrium. The graph shows the expected variation within a selected month and the maximum amount of changes along the year from that month.
