WOOD Andrea Arenas Gaile Butvialte Samanta Azpurua

CONTENT - What is the wood? - Types of wood - Constructing with wood through history - Advantages - Disadvantages - Construction systems: Log construction - Construction systems: Wood – framing construction - Wooden construction - Wood’s importance in architecture

INTRODUCTION Wood is a very important material to the planet earth, because it is part of the trees, and they are essential to our planet. Also because through history it has been one of the most important materials used by men to ease their lives, whether as a tool or as a construction material. We are going to study wood as a material for construction in architecture, its history through the ages, and its advantages and disadvantages

- What is the wood? It is an organic material It is the hard, tough substance that forms the trunk of trees It consists of fine cellular tubes that carry water and minerals from the roots to the leaves. Principle properties of wood: - Strength - Hardness - Stiffness - Density - Moisture - Durability

- Types of wood All the woods fall between a range from very soft to very hard. Hardwood Obtained from trees that lose their leaves in winter Examples: - Mahogany - Oak - Maple - Rosewood Softwood Obtained from evergreen trees Examples: - Pine - Fir - Hemlock - Spruce The most common types used in construction are pine, spruce, and hemlock, for their abundance, improved methods of manufacture, and moderate cost

- Constructing with wood through history In the early days of wood construction in Europe the structural components were placed directly in the ground, which eventually leads to decay In the 1100s people began to use stone footings The most famous ancient European wood buildings still in evidence today are the Norwegian stave churches, they were built in the 12th and 13th centuries The oldest surviving wood structure in the world is the Horyu-ji temple, which is believed to have been built at the beginning of the eighth century (c. 711)

- Advantages Wood is considered to be strong in tension and resistible to compression. It is easier to extract, manufacture, transport and construct than other materials. It is naturally reusable, recyclable and biodegradable. It is the best insulator of all structural building materials. With thoughtful design and careful workmanship, wood bridges prove to be remarkably durable. It is one of the best materials to built piles that are constantly submerged in fresh water It is remarkable for protecting people from the cool providing them more heat that other materials would.

- Disadvantages Wood is an inflammable material, therefore, its very important to protect from fire. Some insects and fungi can break wood down by the decay; it could take the building down. Even though water does not damage wood, it helps these insects to grow. Wood its not a material people can mold as any shapes, some types of word are not so easy to bend and shape. Too much unintended moisture in the wood could lead to a serious decay

- Construction systems: Log construction This way of building is one of the basic and simplest. It consists on placing one log above the other creating a wall at the same time creating a joint with the wall on the sides forming a rectangular shape There are many ways to joint the corners. One of the techniques is called Dovetail joint Log home - Round Log Chink Style - Broadaxe Hewn Log Style

- Construction systems: Wood – framing construction Wall framing in house construction includes the vertical and horizontal members of exterior walls and interior partitions. These vertical members provide the support needed for upper floor platforms and also provides the strength of the lateral walls. This technique is popularly known as "stick and frame" or "stick and platform," or "stick and box"

The Richmond Oval St. Henry’s Ecumenical art chapel The Finnish Forest Research Institute - Wooden construction

Wood is one of the oldest building material known to man. Now a days the technology has brought new opportunities for structural use and surface treatment for the wood It also gets to all of our senses, starting with the visual, then we can smell it and finally we touch its different surfaces It expresses continuity and brings the feeling of coziness and security that is created by permanence - Wood’s importance in architecture

CONCLUSION Wood has been present since humans began building shelters, houses and boats to survive. Nowadays steel and concrete are the predominant materials used to construct tall buildings and long-span bridges. But wood is still used as a major material in houses, smaller buildings, roofs, for decorative purposed and furniture. It is also a raw material for pulp-based products such as paper. Even though the shapes and forms that steel or glass could make, the coziness and security that people feel inside a wooden house cannot be replaced by those materials.