2023-08-14 06:00:09
Switzerland is a hub for commodity trading. Did you know that this activity represents 4% of Swiss GDP, and even 22% of tax revenue for the canton of Geneva. This week, we are talking regarding the theme of wood. We will look at its history, as well as that of wooden construction.
Painting by Auguste Renoir: Path in the Woods
Also take advantage of the opportunity to admire an exceptional work of art: the painting “Sentier dans le bois” by Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), currently on display at the Barberini Museum.
Historical data: the early use of wood by man
Since prehistoric times, wood has been one of the first materials used by the man. Primitive man knew how to use it as a tool for heating, cooking and creating the first weapons. Its use has been very varied. Just think of the role of wood in the construction of objects or houses or its role in combustion to start fires.
Woodworking is one of man’s earliest arts: clubs and spears at the dawn of civilization, canoes hewn from tree trunks, plows used in agriculture, stools three feet to the complex structures of modern times.
In Europe, it is necessary to go back to 2500 years before our era to observe the first dwellings on stilts, it was only later that river navigation developed and it was there that the Egyptians, then the Greeks and the Romans , used this material to build boats.
Then, it was the art of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance that made wood an essential medium for building furniture and creating beautiful sculptures.
Today, wood is used more and more, because it is a renewable and biodegradable material. Wood also plays a role in the fight once morest climate change.
History of timber construction
In central Europe, the first wooden constructions date back to 2500 BC, when the first houses on stilts were built, houses suspended above the water by long poles.
The wide availability of forests gave a strong impetus to the construction of wooden buildings: new techniques were developed, such as construction with wooden poles.
Half-timbered houses: an architectural innovation
Around 1200 AD appeared the first half-timbered houses, buildings constructed with wooden and clay frames.
This made it possible to reduce the need for wood and to find new and interesting architectural solutions.
They quickly began to be identified according to the construction characteristics typical of the region: Saxon, Alemannic or Frankish style, each with its own particularities. The half-timbering technique has been recovered and updated over the years.
You XIXth century to the present day: the resurgence of wooden construction
Wooden construction was gradually abandoned for regarding 300 years and it was not until the XIXth century that wood construction techniques were rediscovered.
The need to relearn the use of wood in construction has given a strong impetus to innovation in this sector.
In addition to the rediscovery of ancient techniques, modern construction standards have been defined, adapted to today’s requirements.
Thanks to its low cost, rapid installation and high energy performance, wood construction is today a solid reality, able to meet the needs of a competitive market in the midst of renewal.
This gives us the opportunity to admire a painting by Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)
Path in the wood, exhibited at the Barberini Museum.
In the same series, “Raw materials and art”:
- Cereals and Van Gogh
- Coffee and culture
- Cotton and Edgar Degas
- Cocoa and Luis Meléndez
- Sugar and Sartre
- Copper and Chardin
- Steel and Gayle Hermick
- Corn and Jean Mortel
- Biogas and Victor Hugo
- Hydrogen and the aerostatic globe
- The wind, Da Vinci and Monnet
- The Sun and Firedrich
- L’or et Klimt
- Barley and Antiquity
- Le soja et Seikei Zusetsu
- L’aluminium et Jule Verne
- Le riz and Morimura Gitō
- Money and the Elblag Museum
- Tin and Jean Trek
- Oats and Géricault
- Milk and Vermeer
- Water and Renoir
- Potato and Millet
- Lapis lazuli and the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua
- Honey and Cosimo’s Stone
- The Sorbet and the Ottoman Sorbet Vendor
- Spices and the Moluccas
- Marble and the Venus de Milo
- The Olive Tree and the Painter of Antimenes
- The paper and a woodblock print of the Tiangong Kaiwu
- La laine et Jakob Jordaens
- Vanilla and the Florentine Codex
- Tea and its legends
- Salt and Saline de Bex
- The slate and the Duvivier medallion
- Iron and warrior figure with spear and shield
- Straw and Van Gogh
Sources :
Wood: history and use | Paludetto
Wood a “friend” of man (madeinitalyfor.me)
The history of wood (suedtirolhaus.it)
Photo credit : Auguste RenoirPublic domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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#Raw #materials #art #Wood #Renoir
