Building the Wooden House: Technique and Design

The past decade has witnessed especially among the younger generation of architects - a resurging interest in building with wood. The discourse on the potentials of this material has in no small measure been influenced by Konrad Wachsmann's classic Holzhausbau. And yet, surprisingly, this standard work (originally published in 1930) was out of print for many years. Now, following the recent new edition of Wendepunkt im Bauen (Turning Point of Building), Holzhausbau is again available. The English translation, Building the Wooden House, appears here for the first time. Wachsmann demonstrates how new forms can be achieved when modern manufacturing processes are adapted to the traditional building material wood. In a prefatory text he presents three totally different building techniques: the wood frame, the panel, and the log house methods. Wachsmann then illustrates their wide range of application possibilities by analysing plans and photographs of work of some of the century's most renowned architects: May, Poelzig, Schmitthenner, Sharoun, and van der Velde. Most illustrious among the clients was Albert Einstein, for whom Wachsmann built a country home near Berlin. Two introductory essays enable the reader to take new hold of the book. Michael Gruning, journalist and author of the Wachsmann Reports, offers a biographical sketch and an impression of the times in which Wachsmann lived and worked. The Swiss architect Christian Sumi discusses Wachsmann's undiminished relevance to architecture today.