• by Larissa Faw , June 16, 2015

Most skyscrapers are built using concrete and steel, but Metsa Wood wants engineers and architects to consider using wood, specifically its Nordic Premium Wood. 

Now, Finland's Metsa is teaming with hasan & partners for the “Plan B” campaign -- aimed at those in the USA, Germany and the UK -- to demonstrate how Nordic Premium Wood can be used in a much wider variety of ways than they are currently.  

“Wood construction is an ever-evolving business and the market needs more innovative, sustainable, faster and effective solutions," says Jari Tikkanen, SVP of Metsa Wood. "Metsa Wood is strong in Europe, with ambitious global growth targets in USA and Asia.” 

Initially, the campaign recreated the Colosseum in Rome using wood in collaboration with Finnish architect Antti Laiho from Helin & Co and Metsa Wood’s construction engineering team.  

Now, they are introducing blueprints designed in partnership with Vancouver-based Michael Green Architecture to reconstruct the Empire State Building using wood. To prove the project’s efficacy, timber engineering firm Equilibrium Consulting provided structural due diligence for the project and later this summer technical details will be made public. 

Next, Metsa will seek suggestions via its campaign's Web site on which iconic buildings it should redesign next. Metsa will work with a series of different architects and engineers to bring the possibilities to life. 

“The aim of ‘Plan B’ is to inspire the industry to take a fresh look at Nordic Premium Wood, while also demonstrating its properties in a new and unusual manner," says Reino Tikkanen, account director at hasan & partners. "We don’t want to rebuild the Empire State Building, what we want to do is inspire architects and engineers to look again at this incredible material.”  

This campaign is designed to be viral and live across social media. There is no paid media support at this time. 

Metsa and hasan have worked together for two years. The agency has undergone significant changes in recent years. Four years ago, management bought out the Finnish-based agency from IPG and in March 2014, hasan & partners acquired creative agency Perfect Fools, which has offices in Stockholm and Amsterdam, and international clients including adidas, Swarovski and KFC.