ABSTRACT
In 1894, a French patent for a wood frame scaffolding system using prefabricated ladders was registered in the name of the engineer Jules Funcke. Unlike the many quickly forgotten scaffolding patents registered at the time, this particular system begun to be used by a wood merchant called Hector Lièvre at the beginning of the 20th century. It was then widely used until the 1970s. This wood scaffolding system called “Échafaudages rapides” enabled the building of really huge structures reaching impressive heights for the time. This historical enquiry is based on analysis of a corpus of postcards, patents, catalogue and newspaper articles documenting this system. Using this wide range of sources complemented by a further reading in the light of historiography, this paper proposes some reflections on the technical device itself and on its innovative characteristics. It also demonstrates that the notion of innovation is a complex issue with its threads interwoven across interconnected layers.
