JANUARY 2006 »  book review

The Oldest Building Material

Buildings in Wood: The History & Traditions of Architecture’s Oldest Building Material
by Will Pryce
Rizzoli International Publications, Inc., New York, NY; 2005
320 pp.; hardcover; 400+ color photographs; $75
ISBN 0-8478-2746-1

Reviewed by Nicole V. Gagné

Everyone who loves the architecture of wooden buildings, or who is fascinated by the history of the world’s oldest building material, has felt a sense of loss at the eclipse of wood by masonry and steel – and longed for a champion who would reassert the glories of wood. The good news is, such a champion has arrived. His name is Will Pryce, and he has thrown down the gauntlet as the author and photographer of a breathtaking new volume entitled Buildings in Wood. His book is far too detailed and intelligent to be relegated to the coffee table; it's also far too beautiful and absorbing to attract only scholars of architecture. Whatever your interest in the subject may be, this book is bound to satisfy it.

An oversized tome of 320 pages, the book offers more than 400 gorgeous full-color photographs of wooden architecture from around the world. Demonstrating the sensitivity of a first-rate photographer, Pryce has balanced his illustrations shrewdly, and combined a feeling for the monumental in architecture with detail shots that evoke the practicality – the human scale, if you like – of wood construction. Moreover, Pryce’s keen eye reveals the fundamental connections between the most majestic wooden cathedrals and temples and modest, simple wooden dwellings. Here is an author with a true grasp of the range and value of this neglected construction material, and his book will be an indispensable source of inspiration and encouragement to the architect or builder who wants to attempt wooden construction.

A global survey, Buildings in Wood is organized regionally, with chapters that focus on Japan and China, Scandinavia, Western Europe, Russia and Romania, the United States, Southeast Asia and Australia. This approach also throws into relief the spectrum of design possibilities available within what Pryce designates as the "two techniques of wooden construction. One employs logs placed horizontally to transfer load in ‘log construction’ (or 'blockwork'), while the other draws primary support from the vertical placement of the tree trunk in 'frame construction.'” His chapter on Eastern Europe is practically a tribute to blockwork design, and reveals how "the distinctively Russian vocabulary of pyramidal roofs and onion domes derives entirely from the practice of wooden construction.” His Scandinavian chapter highlights the importance of stave construction and its use of vertical posts to provide a sturdy frame. Both chapters also pay tribute to wood’s effectiveness as an insulator against extreme cold, just as his look at the timber-frame architecture of Southeast Asia demonstrates the value of wood "to construct light, open, and airy structures that combat the heat and humidity."

Pryce is also quick to note that "the inherent flexibility of the wooden frame has allowed it to withstand earthquakes in a way that masonry architecture, reliant for stability on its inherent weight, has never been able to” – a healthy corrective to those who discount wooden architecture altogether! His chapter on the Far East is especially interesting in this regard, as he scrutinizes the frame construction of China and Japan, in which sophisticated systems of mortise-and-tenon joints support enormous roofs – a design innovation that protected the buildings from seismic damage. His chapter on Western Europe is characterized by a different approach to timber-framing and emphasizes the popularity of the half-timbering design, in which members of the frame construction are exposed on the building’s exterior.

Although residential architecture is examined throughout the book, Pryce’s chapters on American and Australian wooden buildings are especially delightful for the variety of beautiful homes on display. From the 17th-century saltboxes of Cape Cod to the late-Victorian building boom in San Francisco, the American love affair with timber-frame construction is handsomely and persuasively documented. Victorian and post-Victorian architecture is also a primary theme of his chapter on Australia, which makes sure to sing the praises of Queensland houses. These stud-frame-construction buildings were particularly suited to the subtropical climate, and frequently incorporated Indian-style roofs and verandas. Typically, they were raised off the ground on stumps, an adaptation to the uneven topography that also prevented the infiltration of insects and snakes.

In his preface, Pryce explains that his book "sets out to suggest that, far from being an inherently inferior building material, wood is simply a different one. It traces an alternative and often disregarded tradition, which predates masonry architecture but has continued to coexist with it,” and attempts to describe "a distinct architectural tradition that has its own technical logic.” In fact, as both writer and photographer, he has contributed one of the finest studies of wooden architecture available today: a labor of love that is also objective and wide-ranging; a work of art that is also an excellent work of scholarship. If wooden construction becomes increasingly popular in the years to come, it will be due in no small part to Pryce and Buildings in Wood. 

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