“Timber should be the material of choice in the global south” — that is the view of Brazilian architect and mass timber expert Ana Belizário, who says a new generation of designers is rapidly shifting away from concrete and toward timber, a low-carbon solution.
Belizário, a São Paulo‑based architect with a PhD in mass timber construction from FAU‑USP (2025), is a director at Urbem, one of Brazil’s leading mass timber suppliers. After joining the company in 2016 as commercial and technical lead, she has become a central figure in the country’s timber transition, helping drive what she describes as an “explosive” five‑year period of growth in engineered timber. She has also served twice as a judge for the Built by Nature Prize, assessing global exemplars in bio‑based construction.
Speaking on the AJ Climate Champions podcast, Belizário said Brazil’s mass timber movement is now “burgeoning and increasingly confident,” pointing to early landmark projects such as the Children’s Village School in Tocantins — winner of the 2018 RIBA International Prize — as proof that timber architecture can thrive in tropical regions.
She noted that many of Brazil’s most talented architects are now pivoting from concrete to timber. Early inspiration came from international precedents such as Waugh Thistleton’s Murray Grove project in London, completed in 2009, which she said “set a benchmark many Brazilian designers initially tried to emulate.” But the sector has since diversified, with new typologies emerging across the country, including a high‑end retail complex in São Paulo’s Pinheiros district scheduled to open in early 2026.
Belizário also addressed the ecological challenges underpinning Brazil’s timber supply, particularly the reliance on pine and eucalyptus plantations. While these fast‑growing species underpin the country’s mass timber industry, she emphasised the need to balance plantation expansion with biodiversity protection and stronger integration with native ecosystems.
Then there is hybrid construction, which Belizário described as a pragmatic and scalable pathway for the global south. “Every cubic metre counts,” she said. “A thousand hybrid structures are better than one supermass timber structure that will never come.” And whilst hybrid systems are not carbon‑negative, they offer an “easy win” because the construction industry “feels safe” adopting them.
Belizário returned from COP30, where Built by Nature launched its Principles for Responsible Timber Construction. She said the five‑part framework provides a practical tool for assessing progress — whether for a project, a company, or an entire country — and helps situate organisations on their “timber journey.”
Could Timber (and even Bamboo) Retrofits Spur Growth in the Global South?
Belizário’s comments come as other experts point to a broader shift across the Global South, where timber — and even bamboo — is being explored as a building material of choice for fast-growing cities. In late 2023, Wood Central revealed that Brazil, Malaysia, and China were investing heavily in scrimber, cross‑laminated timber, and radial‑laminated bamboo to serve emerging markets across the region.
According to World Architecture Festival judge and Wood Central contributor Mark Thomson, the palette of bio‑based materials is expanding quickly. Thomson, who has just returned to Australia after judging this year’s World Architecture Festival in Miami, said the language and opportunities around timber‑based construction have changed dramatically. “Initially, we were just looking at CLT buildings,” he said. “But now it has diversified into crafted buildings and a whole range of timber being used internally and externally, structurally and non‑structurally.”
- To learn more about new types of timber systems used in Brazil, click here for Wood Central’s special feature from 2023.
