THROUGHOUT THE AGES AND IN DIFFERENT GEOGRAPHICAL AREAS, WOOD HAS ASSISTED MAN IN HIS CREATIVE WORK, EXPRESSED IN ARCHITECTURE, THE PRODUCTION OF OBJECTS AND SCULPTURE.
WOOD IS THE PLANT TISSUE THAT MAKES UP THE STEM OF SECONDARY GROWTH PLANTS SUCH AS TREES, SHRUBS, VINES AND SOME GRASSES.
SAPWOOD IS THE YOUNGEST, MOST TENDER AND VITAL PART OF THE WOOD OF TREES AND SHRUBS AND FORMS AROUND THE INNERMOST PART CALLED THE HEARTWOOD.
ANNUAL RINGS (OR GROWTH RINGS) ARE THE LAYERS OF WOODY TISSUE PRODUCED BY A PLANT DURING A GROWING SEASON AND ARE CLEARLY VISIBLE IN A CROSS SECTION OF THE STEM AS A SERIES OF CONCENTRIC RINGS AROUND THE PITH.
IS AN ORGANIC MATERIAL COMPOSED OF CELLULOSE FIBRES EMBEDDED IN A LIGNIN MATRIX, WITH VERY GOOD PHYSICAL AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES IN TERMS OF LIGHTNESS (COMPARED TO STONE AND METAL MATERIALS), STRENGTH, STIFFNESS, HARDNESS, ELASTICITY AND DENSITY, PROPERTIES THAT MAKE IT SUITABLE FOR A WIDE RANGE OF APPLICATIONS.
IF OBTAINED SUSTAINABLY, IT CAN BE CONSIDERED A BIOSUSTAINABLE AND RENEWABLE MATERIAL AND REQUIRES LOW ENERGY CONSUMPTION FOR PROCESSING.
IT IS A NATURAL MOISTURE REGULATOR, A PROPERTY THAT MAKES IT A MATERIAL THAT IS "ALIVE" IN ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH THE ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH IT IS PLACED, EVEN AFTER BEING CUT, AND AN EXCELLENT ACOUSTIC MODERATOR.
THE ORGANIC NATURE OF WOOD, ITS EVER-CHANGING TEXTURES, WHICH ARE RECOGNISABLE FROM ONE SPECIES TO ANOTHER, AND ITS UNPREDICTABLE IRIDESCENCE IN RELATION TO LIGHT, MAKE IT AN INEXHAUSTIBLE SOURCE OF PERCEPTUAL STYLISTIC STIMULI, CONVEYING PSYCHOLOGICAL DIMENSIONS OF POSITIVITY, WARMTH, GENTLENESS, PROTECTION; IT HELPS MAN REDISCOVER HIS DEEPEST ROOTS, RECALLING THE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN DIFFERENT LIVING ORGANISMS AND BETWEEN THESE AND THE INORGANIC WORLD.
ITS AESTHETIC QUALITIES ARE OFTEN DERIVED FROM WHAT IS CONSIDERED A "DEFECT" IN STRUCTURAL TERMS: KNOTS, I.E. BRANCHING POINTS, BULBS, I.E. INHOMOGENEITIES IN THE FABRIC DUE TO CLIMATIC FACTORS, SPLITS AND RADIAL CRACKS DUE TO MECHANICAL STRESSES CAUSED BY CUTTING, RESIN POCKETS IN RESINOUS PLANTS.
IN TERMS OF THE QUALITY OF ITS FINISH, WOOD IS ABLE TO LAYER ITS EXPERIENCE EVEN AFTER IT HAS BEEN WORKED, SO THAT OVER TIME IT USUALLY ACQUIRES QUALIFYING AESTHETIC AND PERCEPTIVE QUALITIES COMPARED TO THE DEGRADATION CHARACTERISTIC OF, FOR EXAMPLE, PLASTIC MATERIALS.
INSILVIS CREATED ITS FIRST WORKS IN SOLID WOOD IN 1994, USING ITS OWN FINISHING PRODUCTS BASED ON WAXES, RESINS AND NATURAL OILS.
JUGLANS REGIA (NOCE BIANCO, NOCE COMUNE, NOCE REALE, NOCE NAZIONALE – IT | PERSIAN WALNUT, ENGLISH WALNUT, CARPATHIAN WALNUT, MADEIRA WALNUT, COMMON WALNUT,– EN | NOYER COMMUN OU NOYER– FR | ECHTE WALNUSS, NUSSBAUM – DE).
IT IS A FRUIT TREE WITH A SOLID, TALL, STRAIGHT TRUNK THAT CAN REACH A HEIGHT OF OVER 30 METRES, BELONGING TO THE JUGLANDACEAE FAMILY, INTRODUCED TO EUROPE BETWEEN THE 6TH AND 5TH CENTURIES BC AND TO AMERICA IN THE 16TH CENTURY BY ENGLISH SETTLERS.
A VERY LONG-LIVED TREE WITH A MAJESTIC APPEARANCE. GOOD MECHANICAL RESISTANCE AND MEDIUM TO HIGH STABILITY.
JUGLANS NIGRA (NOCE NERO, NOCE AMERICANO, NOCE CANALETTO – IT | BLACK WALNUT – EN | NOYER D'AMÉRIQUE, NOYER NOIR – FR – SCHWARZNUSSBAUM – DE )
IT IS A FRUIT TREE WITH AN ERECT TRUNK AND BARK THAT CAN REACH A HEIGHT OF 50 METRES, BELONGING TO THE JUGLANDACEAE FAMILY, NATIVE TO THE NORTH AMERICAN CONTINENT, IMPORTED AND CULTIVATED IN EUROPE FROM WHERE IT WAS INTRODUCED IN THE 20TH CENTURY.
THE ITALIAN NAME OF THE PLANT, NOCE CANALETTO, COMES FROM THE INTERNAL CHANNELS THAT TRANSPORT CHLOROPHYLL.
IT HAS GOOD WORKABILITY, MEDIUM-HIGH HARDNESS AND HIGH DURABILITY, LIMITED TO THE HEARTWOOD.
THERE IS A MARKED DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE SAPWOOD, WHICH IS WHITISH TO YELLOW IN COLOUR, AND THE HEARTWOOD, WHICH HAS A CHARACTERISTIC CHOCOLATE COLOUR, WITH DARK FLAMED OR STRIPED VEINS CONTRASTING WITH LIGHTER TONES AND THE POSSIBLE PRESENCE OF VIOLET STREAKS.
FRAXINUS (FRASSINO – IT | ASH – EN| FRÊNE – FR | ESCHEN – DE).
IT IS A DECIDUOUS TREE OF THE OLEACEAE FAMILY, NATIVE TO THE TEMPERATE ZONES OF THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE.
IT CAN REACH A HEIGHT OF UP TO 40 METRES WITH A STRAIGHT TRUNK AND SLENDER HABIT.
IT GROWS RAPIDLY AND SURVIVES IN DIFFICULT ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS SUCH AS POLLUTED AREAS, SALT OR STRONG WINDS, HIGH OR LOW TEMPERATURES.
THE WOOD IS LIGHT AND DUCTILE WITH EXCEPTIONAL FLEXIBILITY.
THE COLOUR IS MOSTLY LIGHT WITH SOMETIMES DARKER HEARTWOOD AND SLIGHTLY YELLOWISH OUTER LAYERS.
PINUS SYLVESTRIS (PINO SILVESTRE, PINO DI SCOZIA – IT | SCOTS PINE, SCOTCH PINE, BALTIC PINE – EN | PIN SYLVESTRE – FR | WALDKIEFER, GEWÖHNLICHE KIEFER, GEMEINE KIEFER, WALD-FÖHRE, ROTFÖHRE, WEIßKIEFER, FORCHE – DE).
IT IS AN EVERGREEN TREE OF THE PINACEAE FAMILY, NATIVE TO NORTHERN EUROPE, THAT CAN REACH HEIGHTS OF UP TO 40 METRES.
ECONOMICAL, SOFT, LIGHT WOOD WITH LOW MECHANICAL PROPERTIES, MODEST DURABILITY AND HARDNESS, BUT FAIRLY STABLE AND EASY TO WORK.
THE TEXTURE IS STRAIGHT, REGULAR AND MEDIUM.
THE SAPWOOD IS PINKISH WHITE, WHILE THE HEARTWOOD IS YELLOWISH TO PINKISH BROWN.