Wood as the essential building material for the 21st century?ecologically, economically and technologically Wood is the building material of the 21st century. Understanding this material and its potential requires us to recognize its ecological, technological and cultural-historical contexts. Touch Wood explores this potential, with inspiring examples?both practical and visionary?from the US, Japan, Austria, Norway, Switzerland and elsewhere. Aimed at an engaged audience of both experts and laypersons who aspire to enrich their experiences with knowledge and thus become actors in the promotion of wood in architecture, this book documents various exemplary buildings in accessible texts and with numerous illustrations. Touch Wood also illuminates the many relationships that connect people with wood as a material. Authors from various disciplines supply a framework in which wood can be experienced sensually and its possibilities and limitations can be discussed.