Media Reviews

Out of the Woods is a classic coffee table format book that features impeccably printed large format colour photographs and small paragraphs of text about modern timber buildings. The book is published by Gestalten, who are no strangers to the format, and the visual quality is absolutely as good as you would expect- down to the paper stock.

A small book in size though not in length, Wooden Homes is a simple yet charming celebration of houses, structures and furniture built from timber. With minimal text and a focus on images, the book does not immediately grab the reader, with little of the close examination that is seen in most architecture books.

Wood: Architecture and Design favours quantity over depth, giving a brief overview of 58 structures from around the world that use wood as an integral design element.

Wood at Home from Beta-Plus is a book centred around the visual, showing open houses from in and around Belgium that showcase the many ways in which timber can add atmosphere to a house.

There are few things more captivating than a new world being unfolded to you by an expert in their field, and Wood and Wood Joints by Klaus Zwerger is exactly that.

Coming from the highly proficient publisher of Braun in 2008, Touch Wood examines a wide spectrum of the contemporary architectural industry.

Timber in the City: Design and construction in mass timber is an architectural book that looks at not just the design of a building, but the design of a community.

Although this book does not deal with contemporary architecture or design in wood, Timber Building in Britain is both engaging and interesting. R.W. Brunskill has endeavoured to explain how timber was used in Britain from the twelfth to the nineteenth century, covering aspects from timber choice and cultivation to carpentry.

Cities in Australia are very familiar with the terrace houses that define some of their most picturesque suburbs.

Coming from just before the turn of the 21st century, The New Wood Architecture documents what is very much the beginning of the modern era in timber construction.

The Forever House is divided into sections based on the decade in which the houses were built, running from the 1950s to the 1980s.

The Scandinavian countries have a strong tradition of building in wood, one that has outlasted the modern age of steel and concrete.

Superlight: Lightness in contemporary houses is a fantastic introduction to progressive design, with a focus on sustainable and ‘light’ architecture.

The problem with many books on architecture is that to get a sense of a house, you need to move around in it - enter the front door, move through the space, maybe even live there for years - before you can say that you have experienced it. Architecture is a three-dimensional art form that is difficult to capture on a two-dimensional page.

Wood often features as an accentual or complementary choice in modern building, cladding and panelling in timber to create a warm and attractive space while maintaining a simple, cost effective steel and/or concrete structure.

Small Houses, collated and written by Claudia Hildner, provides a unique insight into single family residences in Japan.

Scandinavian Modern Houses 4: The spirit of Nordic light is a stunningly beautiful book. Author Vibe Udsen has collated a gorgeous collection of some of Scandinavia’s best houses in this, the fourth instalment of the series, and there is certainly no sign of slipping standards.

Rock the Shack chooses to focus its viewpoint on structures that exist outside an urban context. Each house, cabin, retreat and lookout has an intimate relationship with nature and emphasises the isolation that they are built to capture and enhance.

Reciprocal Frame Architecture examines a specific architectural feature in detail, looking at examples of the form from Japan, England and America. The author Larsen includes great detail of the structural possibilities of the form while not hesitating to point out its limitations.

A book from the German publisher Birkhäuser, New Wood Architecture in Scandinavia provides a comprehensive overview of the use of timber in construction throughout the five Scandinavian countries.