Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research

Softwood construction originated in the early 19th century United States as a pragmatic, accessible structural system for settlers with limited resources and technical skills. Today, 90 percent of American homes are built with wood framing—an ordinary sameness in a country that celebrates individuality. Curated by School of Architecture faculty members Paul Andersen and Paul Preissner, the U.S. Pavilion at the 2021 Venice Architecture Biennale calls attention to this ubiquitous but overlooked building method in a collection of designed and documentary works. A four-story installation—a familiar but monumental half-section of a wood-framed house, with exaggerated proportions—forms a new facade through which visitors enter. Inside the pavilion's galleries, commissioned photographs explore the social realities and cultural mythologies of wood framing; physical models, built by School of Architecture students as part of advanced seminars on the topic, illustrate significant historical examples. School faculty Ania Jaworska and Thomas Kelley (with his practice Norman Kelley) contributed furniture that reinterprets softwood construction to the installation and the courtyard it defines.