Frameworkhouses

In this early cycle of works on half-timbered houses in Siegerland, Bernd and Hilla Becher, who enjoy international acclaim for their consistent documentary photography of industrial buildings, show how industrial conditions shape the appearance and character of an entire region. For a long time, the use of wood for building purposes was rationed by law, since charcoal was the only vital and prosperity-securing energy source for smelting the local iron ore deposits. This strict limitation on the one hand, structural-static necessity and aesthetic feeling on the other hand led to a very special type of half-timbered house and village. This volume - the result of almost 20 years of activity - was the first thematically completed work by the artists.