Social and cultural background of the emergence and development of fachwerk architecture

• Main Authors: Mezentsev Sergey Dmitrievich, Gavrikov Denis Sergeevich
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Moscow State University of Civil Engineering (MGSU) 2015-08-01
• Series: Vestnik MGSU
• Subjects: fachwerk; architecture; technology; building materials; history; Protestantism; Shinto; culture; society
• Online Access: http://vestnikmgsu.ru/index.php/archive/article/download/2553

The article is devoted to the preconditions of the occurrence and development of half-timbered architecture in different regions of the world. The starting point is giving account of the content of the concept of “Fachwerk”. Using the term “Fachwerk” the article refers to a type of building structure which uses three-dimensional farm inclined at different angles as the basis for carrying out wooden beams; beside, the article defines the construction materials used in construction of timber-framed buildings, and the technology of their construction. The history of the formation and development of Fachwerk is among objectives of the study of half-timbered architecture as well. The main methods of research are observation, analysis, comparison, historical methods. Some photographs of certain half-timbered buildings were used to make a reader familiar with the aesthetic impact of this kind of architecture. The oldest building of protofachwerk could be found on the territory of modern Turkey and China. Later, in the Middle Ages, half-timbered buildings appeared among the Germans, Gauls, and other Western European nations. Still preserved, half-timbered buildings date back to the 14th century. Improvement of building materials and technologies of construction, economic, religious and cultural changes and transition of Western peoples from Middle Ages to modern times played a significant role in the formation of half-timbered architecture. It is also noted that there is a direct link or correlation between the religious characteristics of a society and a form of Fachwerk corresponding to them. A special place in the article is taken by Protestantism which contributed to the progressive development of technology, including construction and thereby changed the vector of development of the Western society from traditionalism to modernity. In the 20th century Fachwerk in Europe experienced a new prosperity, thanks to its use as a stylistic foundation of Swiss-style buildings, styles, stick, hips, Jugend, Storybook, Adirondack. Regional variants of Fachwerk and its interpretations are now available in some regions of Western, Central, South and East Asia, Africa, North and South America, and Australia. In the course of the study we revealed the influence of socio-cultural factors in the half-timbered architecture in different regions of its distribution. It is concluded that Fachwerk is an indicator of predisposition of a particular culture to the progressive development.