Matter and surface
Wood
housing school temple pavilion
It is the tissue of trees cut into pieces for structure, walls, floors, doors and furniture.
What it solves
It is light and strong, which makes it good in earthquakes. It stores carbon while it lasts, provided it is protected from moisture, sun and insects.
Today
Use legally sourced plantation timber, dried and treated according to its use. Raise it off the ground, protect it with eaves and let its faces ventilate.
Common mistake
Setting timber posts or sill plates directly on the ground or on damp concrete.
Tomorrow
Timber from well-managed local plantations, protected from rain and sun by design, can sustain small sawmills and carpentry shops in each region. Demolition timber and pallets find a second life in panels and furniture.
Where it comes from
- 1Hōryū-ji Temple Nara, Japan, late 7th century
Its main hall is considered the oldest wooden building in the world. - 2Temple carpentry Japan, living tradition
Timber joinery with almost no nails in buildings that last for centuries. - 3Josephine adobe house San José, Costa Rica, 1825
A traveler described cedar doors, windows and roofs in the houses of the city. - 4Cross-laminated timber Austria, 1990s
Cross-layered panels that make multi-story buildings possible.
Masters
- Kengo Kuma Yusuhara Wooden Bridge Museum, Kochi, Japan, 2010
He stacked small pieces of laminated timber in successive cantilevers, based on a system from traditional temples. He teaches that with short pieces a large space can be covered.
Appears in the routes
See also
Also in Matter and surface
Diagrams and texts by LDB Arquitectura. They are shared under the CC BY 4.0 license, which allows them to be used and adapted with credit to the source.