ABSTRACT
Norway has produced some of the most innovative and historic wooden buildings. The cities of Stavanger and Bergen have large pockets of historic timber buildings, Norway is seeing the construction of many new timber buildings, reviving traditions in a modern way. The Nordic countries have long favored wood over stone and masonry and nowhere is this relationship more apparent than in Norway. The Norwegian Wood program, produced several built works in solid wood. The Pulpit Rock Mountain Lodge and Vennesla Library are bold experiments in wood functioning in multiple roles as structure, finish, spatial device, and service delivery. The Vennesla Library uses a variety of other wood components: 95 mm cross-laminated timber panels are used in both the exterior walls, with punched openings, as well as the floor construction. The adaptability of wood allows for digital and analogue, hand and machine, organic and orthogonal for a rich and complex architecture.
