Dezeen Magazine

WOOD by William Hall

Competition: win a book showcasing the world's best timber architecture

Dezeen is giving away three copies of Wood, a book by author and architect William Hall that celebrates the most innovative and influential wooden buildings from the past 1,000 years.

Building on the success of earlier titles Concrete and Brick, Wood features 170 timber structures from around the world, ranging from ambitious churches to humble cabins.

WOOD by William Hall
Student project, Evolver, which features frames arranged to form a tube, is among the projects featured in William Hall's Wood

The book includes Evolver, a wooden structure designed and executed by students of the ALICE studio at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne. This structure sits adjacent to a picturesque lake in Zermatt, Switzerland, acting as a viewing platform for visitors.

WOOD by William Hall
The single-storey Liyuan Library houses its collection of books within a chunky timber and glass frame

Also featured is the firewood-clad LiYuan Library by Li Xiaodong Atelier, located in the outskirts of Beijing. Due to the natural beauty of the site, the architects decided to use locally sourced timber, like that used by the villagers, to enable the building to blend into its surroundings.

WOOD by William Hall
The temporary installation, Uchronia, was constructed by artist Arne Quinze for the Burning Man festival in 2006

Renzo Piano's otherworldly Jean-Marie Tijbaou Cultural Centre is also profiled.

Timber continues to be a popular construction material amongst architects, recent projects include a treehouse-like residence with views of the Cape Town forest and a wine bar in Thailand featuring latticed plywood walls.

WOOD by William Hall
A curving wooden wall cantilevers out across this concert hall's entrance in Norway, designed by Finnish architects ALA

Wood by William Hall is published by Phaidon and is available to purchase online for £29.95.

More images

WOOD by William Hall
Bird tower by GMP Architekten
WOOD by William Hall
Uchronia by Arne Quinze
WOOD by William Hall
Kilden Performing Arts Centre by ALA Architects and SMS Arkitekter