The City's Wooden Era

The abandonment of wood as a construction material occurred very recently in the history of cities. During this period, which is about half a human lifespan, our cities transformed their wooden faces and gained a concrete silhouette. Homes, streets, and neighborhoods imbued with the warmth of wood could not withstand the rigid invasion of concrete. Along with wooden construction techniques, traditional home life and classical urban culture were also plunged into sudden extinction. Our cities did not change rapidly in the last half-century; they rapidly vanished and were rebuilt... With the withdrawal of wood, along with its old friend stone, from the architectural scene, the general appearance of our cities and the phenomenon of urban life also changed from top to bottom... However, we cannot escape by blaming concrete. It would be more accurate to look at our concretized mindset and aesthetic world... This book does not claim that "everything old was good, true, and beautiful, and the new city is bad, wrong, and ugly in every way." Nor was it written with the intention of turning away from change or listing its evils. It was penned by Kadir Üredi, one of the last witnesses of the city's "Wooden Era," with a completely forward-looking intention... The city's wooden era is a past era. It will not be experienced again. The book only aims to transfer the unique knowledge of wood in a city and the story of the construction of wooden houses in that city to the future. If one day, a person, tired of everything, builds himself a small wooden cabin with the inspiration and knowledge gained from this book, then the purpose will have been achieved.