Wooden Architecture & Design
Originally built between the 7th century and 8th century AD, the Buddhist temple complex of Hōryū-Ji near Nara, Japan, is generally considered to comprise the oldest wooden buildings in the world; photo: Jim Thoburn / Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0).
Wood is probably the first construction material used by human beings.
Especially in those areas in which stone is a rare resource, timber architecture has been developed for centuries in the most diverse and ingenious forms and techniques.
Timber is a lightweight, robust, elastic, cheap, and ubiquitous material to build with.
From ancient Greece (perhaps not all know that the forms of the classical Greek temples were actually a sort of “petrified” version of a preceding wooden architecture) to traditional Chinese temples, from Venetian monumental timber vaults to American balloon framing, wood has been the preferred construction material of civilizations in the whole planet since the dawn of mankind.
The great hull-shaped wooden vault of the Palazzo della Ragione in Padua, designed by architect Giovanni degli Eremitani in 1306; photo Camelia.boban (CC BY-SA 4.0).
The Leigh Court ten-bay cruck-framed barn in Leigh, England, built ca. 1325; photo by Chris Allen (CC BY-SA 2.0).
Created in the 15th century using traditional ship-building techniques, the Saint Catherine’s Church in Honfleur, France, is one of the most remarkable examples of wooden religious buildings; photo: Cristiano Oliveira / Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0).
Balloon frame house under construction, Omaha Reservation, Nebraska, 1877. Photo by William Henry Jackson; The National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Yet, in the early 20th century most modern architects were eager to use more “evolved” materials, such as reinforced concrete, and steel, with few exceptions such as in Japanese and Finnish architecture.
In the last years, the quest for sustainable building solutions and the growing consensus toward bio-architecture have helped to revamp wooden buildings and furniture, though in contemporary forms, as well as the development of innovative and advanced wood harvesting, manufacturing, and design techniques.
We present here a collection of the most interesting and inspirational examples of timber architecture – of any size, from tiny to gigantic – as well as of product and furniture design we are featuring on Inexhibit.
Cover image: the Pavilion of China at EXPO Milan 2015; photo: Inexhibit

A+ Architecture – The Lucien Cornil Student Residence 8-story CLT building

Atelier Espace Libre – an urban ramp connects city and landscape

Beautour | Biodiversity center and museum

Bologna | The Seed – temporary pavilion

Centre Pompidou Metz

CLT goes tall. High-rise buildings in Cross Laminated Timber

Istanbul | Tri-Fold installation by Alper Derinboğaz

London | Serpentine Summer House 2016 by Barkow Leibinger

London | Asif Khan’s Serpentine Summer House 2016

London | Plywood: Material of the Modern World at the Victoria & Albert Museum

Makoko Floating School II by Kunlé Adeyemi – NLÉ

Milan – EXPO 2015 | Pavilion of France

Milan Design Week 2017 | Inhabits: micro-architecture prototypes at Parco Sempione

Milan EXPO 2015 | Latvia pavilion preview

Milan EXPO 2015 | Pavilion of Spain

Milan | Camera Chiara by Annabel Karim Kassar

Milan | EXPO 2015 | Land of Hope – China pavilion

Parametric 3D modeling for the Pauhu pavilion

Pavilion of the People’s Republic of China – Venice Architecture Biennale 2016

Philippine Pavilion – Venice Architecture Biennale 2021

Poissy Galore – Insects Museum and Visitor Center | AWP + HHF

Studio Mumbai creates bamboo MPavilion 2016 in Melbourne

T Space Rhinebeck, Dutchess County, NY | Steven Holl Architects

The ARK, a timber-made modular showroom by Ark Shelter

The Globe of Science and Innovation, CERN, Geneva

The Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Center, New Caledonia

The magic world of Joseph Walsh

The Museum for Wood Culture

The Velvet State Pavilion in Roskilde

Ultramoderne’s Chicago Horizon pavilion brings CLT architecture to the masses

Vo Trong Nghia – Bamboo Stalactite Pavilion | 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale
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