HIDDEN HISTORY OF BUILDING PAPER

Hidden behind the cladding of a timber framed building you are likely to find building paper, or the modern ‘building wrap’. Who invented this useful product, how did it develop and why is it a feature of timber framed buildings? The talk will trace the evolution of building paper from its 1868 invention in Beloit, Wisconsin, through to the 1920s. It covers the original inventors, early uses, early manufacturers, changes in the product over time, and introduces early trademarks, all useful for the dating of historic buildings.

Presenter:
Nigel Isaacs, PhD, Senior Lecturer, Wellington School of Architecture, Victoria University of Wellington
Wellington, New Zealand
Isaacs lectures and researches the history of building technology, specializing in the technological evolution of timber-framed buildings, including building controls. In 2016, with the support of a Fulbright NZ Scholar Award, he explored the development of the 1922 Small Buildings Code, an ancestor of the current IBC. Other work includes researching energy end-uses in residential and commercial buildings, which has supported the energy efficiency clause of the New Zealand Building Code.

1 AIA CES/1 PDH

Materials Talks are scheduled for one hour with a presentation followed by Q&A.

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