Fogo Island Inn, Fogo Island, Canada, Saunders Architecture.
At once humble and luxurious, raw and refined, wood—in all its many forms—is surely one of the most versatile materials on the planet. In fact, Wood (Phaidon, $49.95) is also the apt title of a forthcoming book by William Hall, which pays homage to this natural wonder’s enduring appeal. More specifically it looks at its manifold architectural applications: From a strikingly angular pine heartwood church in the west of Norway to a library facade composed of locally sourced twigs in the countryside near Beijing, the new tome features 170 structures from all around the world that make innovative and beautiful use of timber. The book is thematically structured in chapters like Form, Landscape, and Light, and includes works by some of today’s most notable architects (Sou Fujimoto, Tadao Ando, and Peter Zumthor among them), as well as less widely known contemporary names and late greats like Le Corbusier.
Situated on the remote Fogo Island in Newfoundland, the Fogo Island Inn was designed by Saunders Architecture as part of a push to turn this former fishing community into an unexpected architectural destination. The timber hotel was inspired by the simple silhouettes of local cottages and stilted seaside properties.
House K, Stockholm, Sweden, Tham & Videgård Arkitekter.
This library’s unusual twig cladding was inspired by bundles of firewood that the Chinese architect Li Xiaodong noticed during early visits to the site in the countryside near Beijing. The sticks, sourced from local fruit trees, are aligned to allow sunlight to filter through to the interior.
Nestled in the Norwegian wilderness, this dramatic angular church by Reiulf Ramstad Architects was constructed with mottled pine heartwood, which comes from the center of a branch or trunk and is known for its durability.
