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Kasvu is the 2024–2025 experimental building project of Aalto University's Wood Program: a 9.4 m² minimalist living unit built from wood.

Kasvu is organized around a central Heart Space, with cantilevered extensions that define distinct functions: the Future Dreams module for sleeping, the KJ module for cooking, and the H2O module for hygiene. Four main structural cross-shaped columns provide support for the entire unit. 

Kasvu represents modular construction, where components are prefabricated in a factory and assembled on site. All of Kasvu’s parts are lightweight, flat-packable, and designed to be transported and assembled without cranes. The main structures and interior cladding are made from sawn timber, the floor and roof from plywood, and the highly insulated walls from wood-fiber boards and renewable insulation materials. Structural and non-structural elements are separated, allowing for maintenance, reuse, and adaptation over the decades.

‘Kasvu promotes the use of wood as a sustainable construction material and sparks dialogue on contemporary solutions for minimal living. As a full-scale prototype, it serves both as technical research and an academic statement,’ says Professor of Practice Pekka Heikkinen.