LAB LOGA page on LabLog, a review site (not the lab's official page)
Living Sphere Timber Structure Science Lab
Machine-translated · View original
A timber structures lab that builds earthquake-resistant, rational buildings out of wood.
AboutAbout the lab
Safe, rational structures made of wood.
The Living Sphere Timber Structure Science Lab studies how to build safe, rational buildings using wood and wood-based materials.
It works on joint methods that connect structural members, the development of new construction methods, and ways to evaluate the performance of existing buildings.
When wood is used in buildings, the CO2 that trees took in through photosynthesis stays stored in the city for the decades the building is in use.
From strength tests of structural members to full-scale shake-table tests and numerical analysis, the lab develops new joint methods and structures.
In the Department of Forest Science, Graduate School of Agriculture, the lab is listed under the name 'Timber Structure Science'.
Key terms
- Wood-based materials
- Building materials made by processing and bonding wood, such as glulam and plywood
- Joint methods
- Ways of connecting structural members such as columns and beams, which greatly affect a building's strength
- Shake-table tests
- Experiments in which a test specimen is placed on a large platform to reproduce earthquake shaking and examine how it shakes and fails
NewsLab news
Project Professor Hayashi receives the 27th Japan Wood Research Society Technology Award
Enhanced version of wallstat, collapse analysis software for timber houses, released
A doctoral student receives the Outstanding Young Structural Researcher Award
A master's student receives the Excellent Young Presenter Award in the Timber Structures category at the Architectural Institute of Japan Annual Meeting
ResearchResearch themes
With the theme of building structures from wood and wood-based materials, the lab develops joint methods and new construction methods and evaluates the performance of existing structures. It combines member-level strength tests, full-scale shake-table tests, and numerical analysis.
*Illustrative imageProperly evaluating the seismic performance of timber buildings
Wood has long been used in construction, but there are still aspects of its performance that cannot be evaluated accurately, and in practice excessive safety margins are built in. A rational evaluation of seismic performance is therefore needed.
*Illustrative imageTimber houses that do not collapse in earthquakes
In Japan, where large earthquakes are frequent and many timber houses are damaged, research on timber structures is highly significant for building a society in which no lives are lost to building collapse.
*Illustrative imageCombining wood with steel and reinforced concrete
The lab believes that even in structures made of materials other than wood, such as reinforced concrete (RC) and steel, actively combining them with wood on a 'right material in the right place' basis can produce more rational and durable structures that draw on the strengths of each.
*Illustrative imagewallstat, collapse analysis software
wallstat is collapse analysis software for timber houses developed by Associate Professor Nakagawa. By changing the conditions of seismic elements such as joints and walls, users can see in video how the seismic performance of a timber house changes. It is used not only by researchers but also by high school students.
MembersFaculty
The lab's members consist of faculty, researchers, doctoral and master's students, special research students, secretaries, and technical assistants.As of 2026
- ProfessorHiroshi Isoda
- Associate ProfessorTakafumi Nakagawa
- Assistant ProfessorAi Tomita
- Project ProfessorTomoyuki Hayashi
- Project ProfessorNaoto Kawai
VoicesStudent voices
Compiled from answers by students who were in the lab. Ratings and reviews reflect individual students' experiences, not the lab's official views.
Students who take part in an interview may receive a thank-you gift worth ¥1,000, regardless of what they say.
On a 4-point scale, ● marks where students' answers fall
Who is this lab for?
What's great about this lab?
What did you learn after joining?
What's the vibe, and what is the professor like?
Where do graduates go?
RelatedLabs similar to Living Sphere Timber Structure Science Lab
Functional Biomaterials LabResearch Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere, Division of Sustainable Humanosphere Development and CreationBiomaterials science, polymer materials, structural material…
Circular Materials Creation LabResearch Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere, Division of Sustainable Humanosphere Development and CreationWood science
Habitat Environmental Symbiosis LabResearch Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere, Division of Sustainable Humanosphere Development and CreationForest science, wood science, landscape science, environment…
Material Biology LabResearch Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere, Division of Sustainable Humanosphere Diagnosis and ControlStructural biochemistry, functional biochemistry, wood scien…The information on this page is compiled by the LabLog team from the lab's public information and interviews. For corrections or removal requests, please contact LabLog, not the lab.
Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Mjøstårnet1” Peter Fiskerstrand / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Properly evaluating the seismic performance of timber buildings: “UCSD-JacobsSchool-20230406-Shake table-Tallwood-sunset-05308-DNG dxo-8MP” Jacobs School of Engineering / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Timber houses that do not collapse in earthquakes: “House damaged by the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake” hanonimas / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Combining wood with steel and reinforced concrete: “20230630 Structure of Katajanokan Laituri - Helsinki, Suomi, Finland” Aarni Salomaa / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- wallstat, collapse analysis software: “PSM V28 D663 Side framing of a japanese house under construction” 作者不詳 / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Functional Biomaterials Lab): “Cellulose nanofiber network” Qspheroid4 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Circular Materials Creation Lab): “Particleboard” en:User:Rotor DB / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Habitat Environmental Symbiosis Lab): “Termite damage on a block of wood 01” Pratishkhedekar / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Material Biology Lab): “Xylem rays” Adree.stem / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
About LabLog
LabLog is a lab review app for students only. Student members at each university interview students in labs and publish what they say. Student voices can only be read by students who sign up with a university email address. Operated by bestiee Inc.
Learn more about LabLog ↗Search engines and AI may reference the basic lab info and rating summaries on this page and the description of LabLog. Student voices are for student members only. Automated collection by programs (scraping, or input to or training of AI) is prohibited under Article 8 of the Terms of Service. If you need data for research or analysis, please contact us.