Architecture 597WF - ST-Reframing the Wood Frame

This course will examine the material history of wood frame construction in the United States, with a particular focus on residential construction and the single family house. This will include an investigation of the wood frame from the perspective of detailing and construction, as well as an exploration of the broader assemblage of social, technological, economic, and environmental forces that extend from its use. Particular attention will be paid to the ways wood framing and the single family house has served as a site for reordering the American landscape, including patterns of urban development, the relationship between the city and nature, and the dynamics of domestic life.