Power tools for wood construction

Here are two videos that nicely illustrate how traditional timber framing (and even panelized light-framing) has evolved from the chisel to the CNC cutter and the nailing gantry. The first one is a more hands-on approach where power-tools are used to do individual cuts. The second one is a fully CNC-based process, where every single member is […] Read more..

Intergrain Timber Vision Awards 2012

This year’s Intergrain Timber Vision Awards 2012 were given out recently. This award “aims to recognise and celebrate the valuable role timber plays in Australian architecture and design”. For a full list of the winning projects , go to: Intergrain – Awards (the announcement is here).

Unusual structures in Cross-Laminated-Timber (CLT)

As it turns out, Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT), the new and quite promising structural wood product, can not only be used to build apartments or highrises. It can also be used for more unconventional structures. Below are two of them: A Water Reservoir Structurlam, a CLT supplier from Penticton, BC has used CLT to build this water […] Read more..

A hot house

A hot house

With the record-breaking heat wave we’re experiencing on the East Coast, it was interesting to look at the exterior of our house with an infrared thermometer. The image above lists the results (in Celsius because I prefer metric when it comes to temperatures). As you can see, this illustrates nicely the benefits of white surfaces […] Read more..

HygroScope – Climate-responsive artwork in wood

(Image: achimmenges.net) This art piece illustrates nicely one of wood’s most interesting properties – its hygroscopicity. Wood attracts water from the surrounding atmosphere and binds it in its cell walls. What the artists did here was laminate an uneven number of veneers (usually a no-no in plywood production), which results in a plywood that curls […] Read more..

Interview with Hermann Kaufmann on Architecture in the Bregenzerwald / Vorarlberg, Austria

The following video interview with renowned Austrian architect Hermann Kaufmann illustrates nicely how traditional wood architecture can be honored in a modern context. Architecture in Bregenzerwald / Vorarlberg – YouTube: