Timberframing

Timberframing is an extraordinary and enduring way to build spaces. The first picture shows a simple full-length tenon sliding into a mortise, locking the two pieces together. When designing a timber frame, trigonometry is used so that all the joints are held together with gravity, supported with pegs, and reinforced with braces. This building strategy is in direct opposition to the normal building strategy of using screws and nails.

Timberframing is also an ancient art used all over the world. The second picture is a granary built over 500 years ago. Because the joinery puts wood under compression, and is held against racking with braces, the structures are massively strong.

Some of the world’s most important buildings were built using mortise and tenon joinery: Westminster Hall, Independence Hall, and the church I was married in.