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Since the history of humankind, humans have been transforming the world to benefit their lives. Wood is one of the oldest materials that has been used in many aspects from making small tools to building shelters. Forests, as a main source of wood production, are manipulated to supply the growing consumption with the development of technology. In Sweden, although the forest area is only accountable for 1% of global forest, it is ranked as the fifth largest producer of wood and forest-related products (Swedish Wood, 2018). It is also a country that promotes transition into timber cities where studies show 45% of forest products go to the building construction sector. As a result of increasing wood demand, more and more old-growth forests are replaced with monoculture production forests (Ahlström et al., 2022). This causes forest degradation in which the forest no longer holds the quality to maintain life. Loss of habitats, interference with biodiversity, ecosystem destruction, and threat to social and cultural lives are the consequences of the extraction practice.

In response to this urgency, the research aims to expose the entangled network of wood production and addresses an alternative approach to architecture that fosters both humans and nature in the context of northern Sweden. Theories and concepts related to coexistence with nature are discussed to synthesize a form of architecture that has benefits for human habitation while flourishing ecosystems and organisms. The design proposal evaluates the findings across different scales ranging from building to masterplan. The research aims to seek an alternative approach to urban expansion and building construction strategies in northern Sweden by analyzing an ongoing urban expansion plan of Umeå. By integrating strategies and knowledge learned from case studies and literature reviews, the design proposal reconfigured the conventional approach to satisfying human habitation. It envisionsa coexistence through architecture which has equal consideration for both humans and nature. In the long term, the proposal speculates a positive impact on the site and wider ecosystem by taking into account the timescale and life cycle.