Bush fires in Australia, forest clearances in Brazil, dying trees in Austria – the forest is on the news almost daily. Public awareness of the importance of the forest has grown significantly in recent years. The future of the forest has thereby been an integral part of this discourse – yet what is the future of our forests?

Starting from a case study based in a forest at the border of Vienna, this project speculates on the kind of forest that could emerge in the Age of the (Post-)Anthropocene.The project is based on a meticulous analysis of a field in Moosgraben, a protected ‘core zone’ of the Biosphere Reserve Wiener Wald, spanning 50 by 50 meters.The tools employed in this project are a combination of a language and methods rooted in architecture and newly introduced technologies, such as laser scanning and photogrammetry. Together they make the space describable and understandable.

The project does not stop at mere description. Through abstraction it creates and opens up new spaces. It offers speculations on the future, showing a forest designed by humans, bio-engineered, perfected for human use. It thus takes silviculture, the cultivation and management of forests, to a new level.The project also renders visible the futility of such endea- vours, drawing attention to coincidence and chaos, which are ultimately as much part of nature as order and control.