An industry in transition: on the network of early glue-laminated timber production in Switzerland

When glulam was introduced in Switzerland in 1908, the initiators promised to modernize and expand the possibilities of the old building material wood. Through precise industrial fabrication, the new shapable and large-scale components established timber in modern building and infrastructure construction. Not only did the material undergo a transformation, but vice versa, the new wood also caused a transformation of the building sector itself, including its actors. New design and construction procedures required both new technical knowledge and collaborations between different established and emerging specialists leading to a new network of timber production in Switzerland. This paper traces the roles of stakeholders in an industry in transition and demonstrates that the success of the technology benefited greatly from the already existing crisis in the timber construction sector and shifted power and competence towards technical engineering and fabrication. Ironically, the rapid and widespread establishment of glulam was possible primarily because of the high level of craftsmanship and construction expertise on the side of the contractors but reduced this precisely because of the disempowerment of the construction site.