Discussion: Revolution and Continuity in Wood Construction
- Stefan Krötsch
The basic component of contemporary wood construction is no longer the stick - it's the panel.1 In 1999, Andrea Deplazes formulated the expectation that modern wood construction would move away from sticks - or studs - toward panelised construction, and consequently, panelised tectonics. The re-orientation that wood construction underwent at the turn of the millennium continues to leave its mark - it was a fundamental change. The new possibilities inspire designers and heighten expectations - also with regard to ecological criteria to be met by the construction industry. The technological leap occurred against the backdrop of a politically charged worldwide re-conception of what "thinking green" means - a re-conception spurred by global warming. In this context, several developments in construction materials took place around the year 2000; in addition, materials and assemblies that already existed were developed further and used in new applications. Since the 1990s, for example, oriented strand board - which was developed in the 1950s in the USA - has been increasingly important in Germany in panelised construction.
