Roof Frames from the 11th to the 19th Century: Typology and Development in Northern France and in Belgium by Patrick Hoffsummer

Roof Frames from the 11th to the 19th Century: Typology and Development in Northern France and in Belgium by Patrick Hoffsummer

In 1927, the architect in charge of historical monuments, Henri Deneux, published the first study devoted to the development of carpentry from the eleventh century forward. Research has made considerable progress in the field since then, particularly thanks to the contribution of dendrochronology, which appeared in France during the period 1970-1980, allowing precise dating of materials to be provided based on the study of tree rings.

This book is the result of collaboration between architects, university scholars, Belgian and French dendrochronologists, and offers a synthesis with regard to carpentry from the XIth through the XIXth century, from north of the Loire to Belgium. It contains a typological and chronological classification with 300 examples of carpentry constructions, and a catalogue of beautiful models preserved at the Centre for research on Historical monuments in Paris. It is a valuable reference work for all those - art historians, architects, building restorers - who are interested in this topic.

Patrick Hoffsummer has a Ph.D. in Art History and Archaeology. He has been a researcher at the University of Liege since 1981, becoming an instructor in 1996. He is pursuing research interests in the history of architecture and in dendrochronology.