Contemporary Slovenian Timber Architecture for Sustainability

The book presents Slovenia's contemporary timber architecture. Thanks to its abundant forests, Slovenia has preserved the tradition of wood construction. As much as 60% of its surface is covered by forests. Slovenia is also the third most forested country in Europe. The high share of forest-covered surface allows for a sustainable production of high-quality wood. In the past, wood was used primarily in the construction of farm buildings, but now timber architecture is used for everything from residences and office buildings to public buildings such as community centres and schools. Timber construction is becoming increasingly popular. Apart from larger companies taking this approach, a great number of wooden houses have sprung up, built either on personal initiative or with the support of carpenter workshops. Slovenian timber architecture has taken a new approach to environmental and energy-efficiency problems and received great international recognition. The book discusses over fifty projects built over a ten-year period, and includes descriptions, photographs and plans. The projects include residential areas, administration, and office as well as tourist, educational and industrial buildings. Timber architecture is presented as an integral part of the Slovenian landscape. The monograph will be useful to designers and future experts in their planning of optimal timber buildings and will highlight the main benefits of using timber construction.
About the Author: Assist. Prof. dr. Manja Kitek Kuzman of the University of Ljubljana researches timber construction and focuses on the study of design models of contemporary energy-efficient timber buildings, which combine the know-how of architecture, design and timber construction. Dr Kuzman's teaching and research work is focused on the advances in wood construction and the potentials of innovative use of wood. Her work cooperates with Slovenian and foreign manufacturers of prefabricated timber houses with the aim to connect science with practice. She participates in various national and international projects and transfer scientific research findings into education and organizes, in cooperation with the Chamber of Architecture and Environmental Planning of Slovenia, seminars on timber construction, disseminates knowledge and helps raise the awareness of the lay public on the advantages of the use of wood for construction purposes.