Entangled in the urban landscape, we easily forget how inextricably linked human life is to that of the tree. No wonder that the forest brings about a tangible calm in us—it largely enabled the evolution of our physical bodies and society. From the moment our ancestors descended from the tree, we have wielded wood to advance. Like Prometheus, it brought us fire, thereby giving us warmth, light, nourishment, tools, and shelter. It allowed us to expand our realm of possibility. It is likely that wood surrounds you as you go about your day. In the fabric of architecture and space, furniture and objects. The material is deeply embedded in our existence. It takes another form yet its spirit remains. As we continue the age-old enterprise of extraction, from forests that provide for us, we easily overlook how that existence in many parts is owed to the long age of a tree. A reserve for time. It is this perspective on time that has occupied Christian+Jade as they investigate the innate beauty and immense complexity of the Japanese forest. An expansion of vision. By recognising the age of wood, we can begin to understand our own smallness in the vastness of time. And lean into the wisdom of the woodlands. The forest bears witness. To a time before us, stretching into a future beyond us. The tree grows in layers around dead cells of heartwood, their structure and spine—it stands on the shoulders of yesterday. In an era where many of us are losing access to or pining for a more meaningful connection to nature, The Age of Wood seeks to investigate ideas of age, time, and patina in the context of Japanese woodland. Alongside Karimoku, Christian+Jade chisel out a new vision for timelessness, as human beings, stewards, and formgivers.