Team Materia will be taking off for the dense woods of Siberia early next month for what is promising to be a very exciting new show for us. Teknodrev Siberia 2013 is one of the world’s most significant wood exhibitions, and Materia will be there to promote some of the best materials for the architecture industry.

Our exhibition will feature over 150 materials from our growing collection, organised around the bio-based theme. So we will be showing more than wood and its derivatives: animal products as well as other plants and some bio-plastics will take centre stage at the Materia exhibition.

We have a range of novel materials included. For instance, Cork Polymer Composite adds the light-weight and flexibility of cork to the strength and durability of a polymer matrix. The Kirei board uses left-over material from the sorghum plant, which is heat-pressed with a non-toxic adhesive to form a lightweight, strong board. UVMax is a recycled wood product which consists of a UV powder coated MDF manufactured from 100% recycled wood with a cross-linked, photopolymer bonded finish. Finally, the Luminoso is a composite of wood and optic fibres arranged in horizontal layers. Its see-through qualities make this wooden panel a firm favourite with the crowds.

We’ll be showing many more interesting materials. Besides this, both Els Zijlstra, our Creative Director, and Philip Allin, our Editor, will be giving lectures on materials. Els will focus on wood innovation and new materials for architecture. Philip will be looking at current wood architecture and how we may be designing and building with wood in the near future.

The expected audience is wide-ranging. Manufacturers of wooden houses will be in attendance, as will research institutes, forestry and wood design professionals. Upcoming industries with a presence are furnishers, bio-fuel producers and design communities. We are expecting a broad, international crowd for our exhibition of bio-based materials. The organisers state over 20 nationalities are represented, across some 165-plus companies.

For us, Tekhnodrev Siberia is an opportunity to show the Russian market some of the best, most inspiring materials for the architecture and design industries. The materials are all selected from our database on www.materialdistrict.com. Are you a producer of innovative materials for the industry, and do you think you should be included? Let us know!

Tekhnodrev Siberia 2013 will take place in Novosibirsk, the capital of the Siberian Federal District. The city is the third largest city in Russia and the cultural centre of Siberia.