In construction, and even more so in architecture, wood has the status of a primary and secondary material, a construction support and supplemen to other materials. As a material, wood has become deeply rooted in traditional construction both in Slovenia and the majority of European and a number of other cultures across the world. The use of wood has had a strong impact on farm, industrial, commercial, craft as well as tourist and cultural activities all across the globe; the masters of their craft used wood in such an astonishing way that the wooden or partly wooden buildings they made still draw attention and leave people in awe. Wood is also notably present in the culture of European thermal spas, in which the immensely creative architects used wood as an undercover structural material or as an uncovered independent construction material. According to the sources available to us, wood in thermal spa architecture was most commonly used in different types of pavilions, jutting roofs, house-like market stalls and other sheds and small wooden houses, as well as in the construction of special spa buildings, most commonly known as wandelbahns or wandelhalle, or for any type of building with a similar construction and purpose. These buildings are one of the most prominent spa features, for they present an important element of thermal spas’ social, cultural, educational, commercial and other aspects of life.
|
