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Abstract

Wood in Siberia is a building material given by God. So much craftsmanship and folk art have been developed in it through the ages. Professional architects also show interest in wood. But wood can be burnt. After the fire in 1879, wh en the major part of Irkutsk burnt down, one had to give preference to brick, at least, on the central streets of the city. However, Irkutsk is still more attractive with its wood than with the successful use of other building materials. And not only Irkutsk, I dare to say. Plentiful timber resources do not teach the users to treat the wood economically nowadays. Wasteless industry is in its first stages, furniture production and joinery are developing at the very Least. Glued constructions, energy efficient architectural and building systems with the use of wooden frames are replaced by the arguments that a log makes a wonderful architectural effect and it is so much Russian. And it is not considered important that, according to the Russian current standards of thermal endurance, the outside walls should be two logs thick. These are the words of Irkutsk provincial writer Valentin Rasputin speaking about wood as a building material: «Wood has a rare ability to prolong our memory as far as the depths and events we could never witness. Better to say - it is an ability to convey to us the memory of our ancestors. Stone is colder and ~ more immovable; wood is compliant and returns the feeling». Wood keeps one's soul warm, but does not keep the warmth inside the house. Or, rather, it does not keep the warmth as much as the other more efficient constructions and materials do. We do not say farewell to wood. We say: Let's protect the forests. The subject of the issue is about all these and other things.