Citizens get tired of the stone surrounding them, and in nature, among the trees, they want to live in a house made of warm, breathable material. This is all the more justified because the traditions of wooden construction in the Northwest have millennial roots. Old carvings on historic buildings are lovingly restored, but also on new ones. country houses from wood, you can increasingly see carved patterns stylized antique.

Increasingly, you can see that a wooden structure is used as a country house - either a real rural hut, or its modernized copy. Fashion for wooden country houses is rapidly returning.

The whole world in the window

Unfortunately for recent years wood carving has given up its positions. Requirements for utilitarianism and cheapness of finishes relegated seemingly unnecessary decorations to the background, although in those areas where carving was traditionally developed, they continued to do it - already in small quantities.

There were very few carpenters who could perform this delicate work. And gradually began to lose the knowledge that many village people used to have - what these or those symbols in the carving mean. Nowadays, almost none of the owners of houses with such decorations knows that these are not just wooden curlicues, but a repetition of ancient pagan symbols.

The language of these mysterious ancient signs is now understood only by ethnographers and restorers, archaeologists and artists. But the gradual degeneration of traditions began even earlier - even many craftsmen who carved wood already in the 19th century only unconsciously copied old patterns.

But in carved patterns you can see the whole world of an ancient man, as he understood it. An arc, a semicircle is a rainbow. The Slavs believed that the rainbow served as a bridge between the earth and the sky, on the harmonious existence of which the well-being and even human life depended. Of course, this is not only Slavic mythology, for example, our Karelians - Finno-Ugric by blood - retain no less interesting carvings.

If there is little carving on the house, then it is focused primarily on framing window openings. This was done not so much for beauty, but for safety. Windows, in the views of ancient people, not only connected the dwelling with the "street", but also with other world. So that evil spirits or a bad person could not see anything in the house, looking into it from the outside, openings and shutters were covered with "protective signs" - amulets.

Protected from evil forces, first of all, signs with solar, that is, solar symbols - a wheel with a different number of spokes, but always even. But the six-beam wheel was a symbol not only of the sun, but also of a thunderstorm. A wheel with six spokes was often placed on the berths (beams covering the ends of mats, ceiling beams). It was believed that lightning would not strike such a house.

Quite often there are images of a “running” sun: arcuate lines inside a circle give the impression of a rolling wheel with curved spokes. Solar motifs have not been preserved in all regions of the Northwest, since they are quite difficult to perform, it is easier to say where there are a lot of them. Near the city of Borovichi in the Novgorod region, many wooden houses are decorated with solar symbols.

Where are the lions and grapes from in the North?

Where the sun is, there is the earth. The symbol of the earth, also often found in the ornament, is a rhombus or square, sometimes divided into four parts. The famous Bereginya, Zhitnaya Baba, Rozhanitsa, Makosh was also a symbol of the earth - this is mother earth, the mother of the harvest, an echo of the ancient matriarchy. She was depicted as a cone with a ball on top. She is often flanked by two symbolic riders. As a talisman, the image of the Serpent was often used - either several snakes in the ornament, or one large one in the center.

Precipitation was also reflected in the carving: ancient people believed that rain comes from somewhere in the endless heavenly reserves, the abysses of heaven, and depicted it as droplets - a very popular ornament so far. Curiously, the image of the sun was never placed higher parallel lines or a pattern of "towns": the abyss belonged to the "upper sky", and the sun and moon walked in the "middle sky".

Carpenters used both floral ornaments and images of animals. For example, on the architraves of one of the Valdai houses you can see a hunting scene - dogs rush to a deer. At the same time, in some ancient cities and villages, one can suddenly find motifs characteristic of other regions - apparently, the craftsmen have been somewhere far away, seen a beautiful example and diversified their products with it.

It was connected with the resettlement of people. For example, in the Karelian Zaonezhie one can sometimes see a hut with carvings typical of the Smolensk region, although in the Smolensk region a completely different type of architraves is made. Zaonezhsky Russians often use such patterns and motifs that they could peep only in old books, because they could not see either vines or peacocks alive.

And among the inhabitants of the Arkhangelsk province, the bird Sirin and the lion were popular - also a figure of book origin. They were often depicted on the gables of houses near the attic window.

On many post-war houses, decorated with carvings, a five-pointed star is visible in the architraves. Of course, such a star (pentacle) was not an exclusive invention of the Bolsheviks, but after the Great Patriotic War it began to symbolize the victory of our people over the enemy. Although the Egyptians called this star the Star of Isis, and the Germans called it the symbol of Valhalla (Valhalla), the Slavs attributed to it the meaning of mother earth and used the image as an amulet or amulet. The ancient symbol easily fit into the post-war consciousness of people, although no one remembered its original meaning.

The swastika is not from fascism, and the cross is not from Christianity

Of course, in different regions of the North-West, the carving is not the same - and it's not just a matter of fashion. Academician Vyacheslav Orfinsky, architect and restorer from Petrozavodsk, who studied wood carving for many years, traces how the nature of carving changes from south to north. If in the south of the Vologda region (not to mention the Nizhny Novgorod, Yaroslavl and Tver villages) carved decorations are usually deaf, that is, the pattern is not cut through and looks like a bas-relief, then the farther north, the more “airy” the wooden details become .

According to Orfinsky, this is caused by a lack of light: northern nature is harsh, there is not much sun, so I want to create the illusion of its presence. The most important means of architectural expressiveness in the conditions of the North is precisely a clearly readable silhouette, and therefore the carving is subject to the same task.

Another trend is clearly visible when moving north: patterns and details become larger, geometrically more pronounced. In the Tver region, the abundance of small details of blind carving is emphasized mainly by painting them with different paints.

In the northern regions, houses are often not sheathed, and it is not customary to paint sheathed ones, and even more so the carving. But large airy patterns on Karelian and Arkhangelsk houses can be seen even against the general gray background of the hut.

The design of the platbands and shutters is very curious. By the way, the shutters are a southern rather than a northern detail (as is the “carved palisade”). In the north, the houses stand so wide apart from each other that it doesn’t occur to anyone to enclose the space in front of the facade with a fence;

Deaf fences so that the neighbor does not see the neighbor is the prerogative of the southerners. So it is with shutters: the further south, the more you want to close yourself from the hot sun or from alien people, while in the north these problems are not considered significant.

At the same time, traditional Karelian carving differs from Russian. Karelians use the same motifs that can be traced in folk embroidery - adherence to certain geometric solutions and their combinations. Karelian motifs can be seen most expressively in the decoration of the hairline and tassels.

By the way, if the prichelina is an architectural detail of the house that can be decorated, or you can leave it like that, then the brush (otherwise - a towel, a carved board descending from the roof ridge) has a purely decorative purpose. Both details are absolutely uncharacteristic for the southern regions of the Northwest. The pattern on the brush contains many symbols and amulets, for example, a cross inscribed in a circle, just a cross, often a “sun” in different types(from multi-beam to actually a swastika).

By the way, the swastika is not at all a symbol of fascism, as many people think, but a much more ancient sign, unfortunately, now loaded with such a negative meaning. Both the Finno-Ugric peoples and the Slavs traditionally used the swastika symbol, which they prefer to keep quiet after the Second World War - even national costumes with such embroidery are never exhibited in museums, although they are in collections.

In the same way, in Karelian carving, the cross is not a symbol of Christianity, as not very educated modern neophytes assure, but a symbol of agriculture. And the Karelians are all the same people, first of all, agricultural, hunting and fishing are an important trade for them, but by no means the most important. Yes, and the Christianization of the local lands was quite formal for quite a long time: in the presence of graveyards and priests, most of the population adhered to pagan rituals in everyday life.

Not every tree will become a pattern

The design of the platbands is very important, they always pay attention to it. Although the platband is just a board that should cover the gap above the window (by the way, in the northern regions, the window, regardless of the shape of the binding, is single-leaf, and even before the war, windows often did not open, the frame was simply removed, and a second frame was inserted for the winter, also without loops).

But this board can be decorated in the most bizarre way. It is curious that many northerners used the absolutely baroque form of architraves. Academician Orfinsky explains this by the fact that the peasants went to work or trade in the cities and saw stone buildings there that struck them with their beauty, so skilled carpenters wanted to repeat this beauty, but in wood. It turned out very peculiar.

Moreover, if the Russians tried to repeat the stone details in the tree as close as possible to the original, up to the image of crowns and eagles, then the Karelians and Vepsians did not chase crowns, but they always added either a Christmas tree, or a bump, or a little man for local color. And in Karelia, architraves having the form of a “bridge” were practically not used - covering the space both above the window and on the sides from above.

But in the Novgorod, Pskov, Tver regions, such a “drain board” with blind threads is very common.

Since large houses were built in the North, they usually had a second floor. Wealthy owners could afford a balcony, which was also designed in an extremely intricate way - there are twisted posts (carving imitating metal twisting), carved balusters, and a lattice with a through pattern. The right owner was considered the one who could go out on his balcony on a holiday so that it could be seen from the street. The height of prosperity is to command your employees from the balcony.

In many areas of the Northwest, pine was considered the best material for carving. Unpainted, it turns yellow over time, acquires a honey hue. But aspen darkens with age and acquires a silky gray sheen - aspen plowshare on the cupolas of wooden northern churches on a sunny day can be mistaken for metal from a distance.

Linden was also used for carving - it is soft, plastic, but short-lived. Oak was too expensive for such purposes, only if something remained in the stumps from construction. But larch was used only for construction, not for decoration: its wood does not rot, but it is very fragile and easily pricked, so carved details are not obtained from it.

The pattern is cut out on a whole polished board. This board should not have knots and damage, otherwise such an ornament will not live long, or even completely split during manufacture. Fortunately, many modern carpenters know all these techniques and inherit the traditions of their ancestors well. For example, in the village of Vinnitsy, Podporozhsky district, everyone knows the house of the carpenter Radaev - it is impossible to pass by him indifferently. There are so many wooden decorations on a completely modern hut that it seems like a fabulous tower. This is a kind of self-promotion of the master and, I must say, very convincing.

But not only Radaev promotes ancient carvings with his art. In some localities, especially in the Vologda region, where carving has always been very developed, new houses began to be decorated with old patterns taken clearly from books. Traditions stay with us.

Text and photo: Tatiana Khmelnik, Alexander Potravnov

"Land owner of the North-West" No. 5 (65), 2011

Gennady Shkarenin from Nizhny Novgorod sent us a selection of photographs showing elements of the decor of private houses - carved platbands on the windows. He collected this selection for his house in order to compile his own style based on several options, to make carved platbands on the windows of his house with his own hands.

And since there are still people who do not hire teams of carpenters, joiners and masons for construction, but do everything on their own, especially, then we decided to lay out these options for platbands for general use.

Tellingly, earlier carved platbands were only on wooden houses in Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian houses in cities and in the outback.

Stone buildings were managed with purely utilitarian shutters, or rather strict lines were used to frame windows.

And now on which houses you will not see an intricate pattern of wooden carvings. Houses made of bricks, expanded clay concrete blocks and frame houses, and metal siding.

Indeed, everything is cyclical. And the people, tired of the facelessness of European-style renovation and foreign facades with plastic windows, reached out to the spiritual fairy-tale beauty of his native carved window “clothes”.

Carved architraves on windows for houses with facades made of vinyl

For houses with vinyl siding facades, as it turns out, the theme of wood carving is also relevant. After all, virtually all vinyl siding is sewn horizontally and imitates timber and planks. In addition, they are often sheathed with vinyl siding, which already have carved platbands on the windows before the repair.

This means that you can visually see how harmoniously carved wooden architraves look on the windows of houses next to vinyl facades.

What can I say, wooden patterns look quite logical and harmonious, combined with the strict lines of siding facades.

It is also worth noting that the more identical windows are lined up, the more spectacular the carved platbands look. After all, wood carving was always done by hand, with a chisel and a chisel.

And now modern tools and computer sketches allow you to make several completely identical products. Here you see three windows in a row, the platbands of which can be cut identically using an accurate drawing and a jigsaw.

Carved platbands on the windows of log houses

That's where the carved platbands are at the right time, so it's on the windows. A log house, if it is built consciously, is conceived by the owners as a kind of safe harbor in the modern raging ocean of the surrounding reality. Both outside and inside such a house, all elements are made from natural materials.

And, by the way, there are elements of framing wooden windows, which are very suitable for log houses in design.

Carved elements on facades and gables

The ideas and ideas of modern wood carvers can be realized not only in window casings. Wooden carvings can be used to decorate the pediments of log and timber houses, as well as details of facades and verandas.

And the exterior of the bathhouse on the site, as if by itself, asks to be decorated with carved birds and flowers made of wood.

Carved architraves on windows PHOTO

And here are some options for carved platbands for a snack, photos of which you can look at for hours and transfer individual elements into your own products with which you will decorate your home.

As you can see in the photo, carved architraves look organically on old houses made of logs, timber and houses lined with clapboard. And this means that they will look no less organic with the same sheathing, as well as with facades from a blockhouse and siding imitating a board.

House in the village. My village house is over a hundred years old. Once the log walls were sheathed with clapboard, and the windows were decorated with platbands. But over time, it all began to look unattractive. The lining, which had never been painted, acquired an earthy gray color characteristic of old wooden buildings. And the slate roof, on which snow lay almost until May, also darkened and leaked in some places. Basically, everything had to change.

When I removed the old lining, I found that the log house looks quite good - as if it was built five, maximum ten years ago (when the lower rims were tapped with the ax butt, they rang like “young ones”). The lining well protected the log house from rain, snow and ultraviolet radiation. The logs of the neighbor's house, which is much younger, but stands without sheathing, have dried up and cracked.

After the installation and painting of the new lining, the question arose: how to revive appearance Houses? If you have built a log or timber house, I strongly recommend that you "go broke" on lining or siding - the descendants will thank you.

But an unpleasant discovery awaited me. The lower parts of the window frames are almost a quarter rotted - almost turned into dust. I had to choose the rot with a chisel and a chisel and insert “prostheses” from a timber treated with an antiseptic into these places.

The reason is that the tides were not made. And if it rains obliquely, then the water has nowhere to go - it flows straight from the window onto the window sill and does its “dirty deed” there.

Although it must be said that the builders who erected the house thoroughly approached their work. For the boxes, well-tarred wood was chosen, which is most capable of resisting decay. All the same - if constructive protection of the lower window sill is not provided, then this will not save.

Therefore, I protected the new window sill with a polymer-coated iron sheen, running the top edge of the sheet into the gap between the box and the frame. The tide has a slight slope to drain water. Now I am sure that the windows are not afraid of rain, even with a strong wind.

Thread. I must say that my house does not shine with architectural delights. It was built in the "barrack-barrack" style. And now, after laying the galvanized roof, installing and painting the new lining, the question arose before me: how to revive the appearance?

The simple decoration did not suit me. Maybe use thread? At that time, I had practically no experience in this matter. But it is not the gods who burn the pots. Overlaid with literature, bribed tools and set to work.

When decorating a village house, many elements are used (valances, cornices, friezes, wind boards). But the most important of them are, of course, platbands. Any, even the most simple, they give the building individual features. And this word definitely speaks for itself (CRAPE - decoration of the face of the house).

The platband usually consists of an upper part (it is called a kokoshnik, an ochel, a pommel or a pediment), side rods (sidewalls) and a window sill.

Usually, top part the most carved. However, in different regions of Russia, the masters had their own traditions.

Initially, I planned to use a through oval carving to decorate the finishing elements. But the laboriousness of its implementation would have stretched the work for more than one year, so I settled on a simple through thread. Source materials. It is my deep conviction that boards for finishing can only be purchased at large bases where there is a chamber drying.

I had to work with a half-baked lining. As it dries, it mercilessly leads, and then you have to adjust the boards with a planer or, God forbid, re-lay the sheathing in a year or two. At the bases, if there are doubts about the condition of the material, you can always ask for a moisture meter and check it.

The main difficulty was the acquisition of boards for carving. Of course, in our conditions it is pine or spruce. Well, I came across a specialized store that sells chamber-dried clean wood.

In addition, the boards needed wide ones, since I had an idea to make several carved compositions with a large pattern. However, on sale I found only boards 150 mm wide. There was an option - furniture boards.

But how will they behave in conditions of sunshine, high humidity or frost? It can be assumed that if the shield was made in compliance with the technology, then it should not warp and crack.

It was difficult to guess how the shields I bought were made and how the elements sawn from them would behave. But for testing, I still cut out four decorative items from a furniture board (400 mm wide) and installed them horizontally on the sides of the extreme ones. Two years later, there were no visible changes.

Of course, it is too early to draw final conclusions. Let's wait and see if this option has a future.

I processed the elements of the thread with “Pinotex” of the “rowan” tone in two layers and attached them with screws from the outside. For the sidewalls of the platbands, I bought an additional finished product “pigtail”, which I also fixed with screws, but from the inside of the substrate, having previously drilled holes for them.

The upper part of the platband I have consists of three carved boards. After manufacturing, I processed them with Pinotex, and then attached them with screws one to the other and to the carved brackets that serve as a support for the entire structure. From above, the architraves, as well as the window sill, are protected by a cast iron with a polymer coating.

Tools.

Any electric jigsaw is suitable for sawing threads (it is only desirable that its power be at least 500 W). I know from experience that almost all electric jigsaws take the file a little while working, but in this case you can ignore this.

All carvings on the house will be viewed from a considerable distance, and small errors, therefore, are permissible. I used files for a clean curved cut. With intensive work, one or two saws per day took. I tried to experiment with sawing modes, but nothing good came of it - I ruined the tool.

It is one thing - a straight cut, in which you can choose the optimal feed rate, and another - sawing out an ornament with different radii, sometimes very small. When passing holes of different diameters, different feed rates are needed. In general, without further ado, I worked at a speed slightly above average.

The main thing is that there is no noticeable drop in engine speed at increased loads. As I got into the habit of finishing the house, I “spoiled” on a milling machine. Great tool!

I started small - I used it to refine the edges of threaded elements. Products are immediately transformed, they have a finished look.

Search for ornaments. Coincidentally, by the time I started carving, the publishing house "People's Art" began to release a series of albums for wood carvers. And almost all my ornaments are from there. In the albums, the ornaments are given on a scale grid, so you can get the size of the drawings depending on the creative plans.

Fortunately, today you can not bother redrawing them, but print a copy on a printer in the right scale.

I also looked for ornaments in children's books (especially those published in Soviet times). You can also use the Internet.

There is another way to create ornaments, probably familiar to many from childhood, when snowflakes are cut out of paper (usually before the New Year).

It is necessary to take a paper tape according to the size of the blank board and fold it with an accordion. Then cut triangles or curls on the folds with scissors different shapes and magnitude. Then unfold the tape and, if you like the resulting pattern, transfer it to the workpiece.

Painting. For as long as I can remember, the house has always been a dirty gray color. And when decorating it, I wanted bright festive colors.

Therefore, I chose the Sikkens impregnation in bright yellow (pine 077) as the main one on the walls and burgundy (mahogany 048) on the plinth. This Dutch impregnation is based on alkyd resins and protects wood from UV rays.

"Pinotex" tone "rowan" painted carved elements that decorate the house, and for contrast, I added details painted in white.

Cultural heritage

The tradition of decorating houses with carvings originated in Russia, probably in pagan times. Then it was mostly cult in nature. In the patterns of ancient ornaments, one can distinguish the sun, rain, people raising their hands to the sky, geometric figures (circles, triangles, rhombuses) and other signs designed to provide protection from the elements and the fertility of the earth, as well as serving as a talisman of the home.

Of course, even then the sacred meaning of wooden drawings was combined with the purely utilitarian purpose of various elements: platbands are designed to protect the gaps between window frames and the log wall of the house from cold and moisture, chapels - the ends of roofing slabs, etc. The practical meaning was preserved, but the cult meaning was gradually lost. Only the tradition of decorating the façade remained. Over time, each locality developed its own style of carvings, and the patterns of platbands in different areas could vary significantly. Wooden carved decor is distinguished by its diversity in terms of execution technique, plots and compositional arrangement on the house.

In some regions, they preferred to use sculptural carving, in others - blind, in others - slotted. The most common was and remains slotted (also called sawn and openwork) carving, although it arose later than others.

Tradition and innovation

Sculptural carving is most characteristic of the northern regions of Russia. The protruding ends of the logs and slabs were given the outlines of animals and birds, both real and mythological. But the most common was the decor of okhlupnya on the gable roofs of Russian huts. Okhlupnya was most often given the shape of a horse's head, which originally had a sacred meaning. They also made images of other animals and birds - deer, goose, swan, etc.

Today, sculptural images on roof ridges are rarely done, although such services are offered by craftsmen and even firms. In addition to the ends of logs and okhlupnya, shutters and platbands of houses in some Russian provinces were sometimes decorated with sculptural images of various animals and birds.

Relief carving was most common in the Volga region. It is also called chiseling, since the main tool for its implementation (in addition to the ax) is a chisel. This type of carving is characterized by a high bizarre relief. The most common ornament is floral, but images of various animals and mythological creatures (lions, mermaids, sirens) are also often found.

In Smolensk, they must remember. A long time ago, the most carved and colorful house stood opposite the railway hospital.

photos

What is the technique of artistic carving, Thanks to that .. source

Garden furniture... Slotted carving and decorative spring

Photo 1, Making furniture with carving.. a source

Quickly... Let's make platbands and other sources

Examples... Thread on wood. Garden sculptures. 08/18/2012 source

Wood carving in .. source

Wooden products Photo.. a source

To date, brownie .. source

Intricate artistic carving by .. source

Cultural heritage
The tradition of decorating houses with carvings originated in Russia, probably in pagan times. Then it was mostly cult in nature. In the patterns of ancient ornaments, one can distinguish the sun, rain, people raising their hands to the sky, geometric figures (circles, triangles, rhombuses) and other signs designed to provide protection from the elements and the fertility of the earth, as well as serving as a talisman of the home.

Of course, already then the sacred meaning of wooden drawings was combined with the purely utilitarian purpose of various elements: platbands are designed to protect the gaps between window frames and the log wall of the house from cold and moisture, chapels - the ends of roofing slabs, etc. The practical meaning was preserved, but the cult meaning was gradually lost. Only the tradition of decorating the façade remained. Over time, each locality developed its own style of carvings, and the patterns of platbands in different areas could vary significantly. Wooden carved decor is distinguished by its diversity in terms of execution technique, plots and compositional arrangement on the house.

In some regions, they preferred to use sculptural carving, in others - blind, in others - slotted. The most common was and remains slotted (also called sawn and openwork) carving, although it arose later than others.



Tradition and innovation
The main motives of wooden carving have changed little: geometric and floral ornaments are still popular, zoomorphic (depicting animals) and anthropomorphic (depicting people) are less common. As for the types of carving, in the external decor of the house, as mentioned above, the slotted one occupies a dominant place.

In a house, especially a wooden one, carving is found not only outside, but also inside (for example, sculptural or relief carving is usually used in the design of stair balusters and railings, furniture and doors).

The following types of Russian architectural carving can be distinguished: sculptural, flat, embossed and slotted (its variety is laid on carving). Probably the most ancient type is flat wood carving, which includes a number of varieties - notched, slotted, crenate, etc. The most common flat carving motif is geometric. On the balconies, porches, the upper architraves of windows and doors of many old wooden houses, a circle with divergent rays is carved. Of course, this symbolic image of the sun goes back to pagan ideas about the world. with the ancients magic spells, probably, other geometric figures characteristic of flat carving are also connected - circles, crosses, stars, rhombuses, etc.

Sculptural carving is most characteristic of the northern regions of Russia. The protruding ends of the logs and slabs were given the outlines of animals and birds, both real and mythological. But the most common was the decor of okhlupnya on the gable roofs of Russian huts. Okhlupnya was most often given the shape of a horse's head, which originally had a sacred meaning. They also made images of other animals and birds - deer, goose, swan, etc.

Today, sculptural images on roof ridges are rarely done, although such services are offered by craftsmen and even firms. In addition to the ends of logs and okhlupnya, shutters and platbands of houses in some Russian provinces were sometimes decorated with sculptural images of various animals and birds.



Relief carving was most common in the Volga region. It is also called chiseling, since the main tool for its implementation (in addition to the ax) is a chisel. This type of carving is characterized by a high bizarre relief. The most common ornament is floral, but images of various animals and mythological creatures (lions, mermaids, sirens) are also often found.

One of the most striking examples of relief carving was the wooden palace of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in Kolomenskoye, built in 1667–1672. and dismantled during the time of Catherine II. Literally everything was decorated with the finest carvings in it - friezes, valances, porches, galleries ... However, soon we will have the opportunity to admire the unusual decor - the restoration of the palace should be completed this year.



The simplest, and therefore the most common type of house carving is through (also called slotted, sawn, openwork). It is performed by the method of through cutting boards with a thickness of 5 to 50 mm. Slotted differs from other types of wooden carving in that the background of the pattern is completely removed. However, its popularity is due not only to the relative ease of execution. Firstly, the through carving of decorative and applied elements gives the house airiness. Secondly, the openwork pattern illuminated by the sun with through holes casts a lacy shadow, and the angle of illumination, which varies during the day, changes the shadow pattern and the appearance of the facade of the building depending on the weather. In addition, slotted threads can be multi-tiered, i.e. carved boards of prichelin and valances are superimposed on each other. Then the feeling of airiness of wooden lace is greatly enhanced.