XIII Heritage Craft Conference „Hands on"

• Marko Aatonen, Heritage Construction Studies in Higher Education, representative of the Bachelor’s programme in Estonian Native Craft, specializing in construction at the University of Tartu Viljandi Culture Academy.

Marko Aatonen (Estonia) graduated in 2019 from the University of Tartu Viljandi Culture Academy with a degree in heritage construction. Since then, he has primarily worked as a construction carpenter in his own company. In parallel, since 2017, he has served as a workshop master for the construction program and supported practical training processes.

• Jackson DuBois “40 Years of Building Community Through Craft”

For four decades, the Timber Framers Guild (USA) has united builders, educators, and communities around the shared work of craft. This talk traces the Guild’s evolution, from early volunteer projects raising barns across North America to international collaborations that preserve and renew cultural heritage. Drawing on stories from both traditional and contemporary timber framing, Jackson DuBois reflects on how the act of building together has shaped not only structures, but also enduring communities of learning, stewardship, and place.

Jackson DuBois (USA) is the Executive Director of the Timber Framers Guild (USA), an organization dedicated to preserving and advancing the craft of timber framing. With over 20 years of professional experience in both the United States and abroad, his work explores the intersections of traditional craft, community education, and international exchange in the heritage building trades.

• Thor-Aage Kaminka Heiberg “How can making replicas add knowledge to artisan craft research? Examples from Stiftsgården, Trondheim”

The author will in this presentation use windows from Stiftsgården, Trondheim, Norway as an example on how artisan skills can be used in craft research. Using basic knowledge and skills to interpret and understand an object, a hypothesis on what tools and techniques used to make the object can be made. To test the hypothesis, making replicas of tools and objects can be an effective way not only to test the hypothesis, but also to raise new questions which up until this point may have been hidden or not easily accessible to us.

Thor-Aage Kaminka Heiberg (Norway) is a master joiner currently teaching traditional joinery and carpentry at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) Bachelor´s programme in the traditional building crafts. His work experience spans from his start as a church organ builder, through modern staircase manufacturing to heritage building preservation in a local open-air museum prior to his current job. Throughout his career he has pursued his love and interest in artisan craft performance and specializes now in the use of hand tool joinery.

• Erki Markson “Heritage Conservation in Svalbard”

The presentation introduces development and research projects carried out at the Svalbard Museum to support the preservation of architectural heritage. It provides an overview of local building monuments and the specific characteristics and challenges related to their maintenance.

Erki Markson (Norway/ Estonia) is a graduate of the first cohort (2009) of the Native Construction curriculum at the Viljandi Culture Academy. Shortly after graduation, he began working in Norway, where he familiarized himself with traditional building techniques and practices. Currently, Erki works at the Svalbard Museum as a carpenter specializing in heritage conservation projects.

• Joosep Metslang “What Are Wooden Shingles? Notes on History and Manufacturing Methods”

Wooden shingles encompass shakes, splints, shingles, and boards that have been used for centuries in Estonia and its neighboring regions to cover the roofs of a wide variety of buildings. This presentation summarizes the history, production, and installation of different types of wooden roofing materials. Wooden shingles have been applied to many kinds of structures and can also be adapted for contemporary restoration practices.

• Joosep Metslang: “Notes on Timber Architecture in Estonia’s Medieval Hanseatic Towns”

The presentation provides an initial overview of timber structures in residential buildings of Estonian Hanseatic towns during the 15th–16th centuries, including log and timber-frame houses revealed through archaeological finds in Tallinn, Tartu, Pärnu, and Viljandi. Several medieval roof constructions have survived in Tallinn’s Old Town to this day.

Joosep Metslang (Estonia) is Head of the Conservation Department for museum buildings at the Estonian Open Air Museum, responsible for the maintenance of nearly 80 exhibit buildings. In addition, he oversees thousands of running meters of fences within the museum. In the autumn semester of 2025, he began doctoral studies at the Institute of History and Archaeology, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Tartu, focusing on the timber architecture of medieval dwellings in Estonian Hanseatic towns. His dissertation is supervised by Professor PhD Anu Mänd (Institute of History and Archaeology, University of Tartu) and Senior Researcher PhD Villu Kadakas (School of Humanities, Tallinn University).

• Adam Miller „Woven Arch Bridges: History and Recovery of Traditional Craft Knowledge in China“

The woven arch bridges of southeast China are fascinating tradition—relying on structural principles very different from those applied in European and North American bridges. Once thought to be lost, the centuries-old traditional craft skills and knowledge required to construct these bridges have recently experienced a remarkable revival. This presentation will feature new field research, including inspection of over 60 Chinese bridges ranging in age from 450 years to not-yet-completed.

Adam Miller (USA www.adammillercarpentry.com) strives to keep carpentry traditions alive and evolving, with work spanning many cultures. He serves as editor of Timber Framing, the technical journal of the Timber Framers Guild, maintains an active teaching practice, and is co-founder of Kominka North America (www.kominkanorthamerica.com), a firm dedicated to the adaptive reuse of endangered Japanese timber structures abroad.

• Madis Rennu “Field Notes on the Durability of Wooden Shingle Roofs”

The aim of the fieldwork was to examine which factors may influence the durability of roofs covered with wooden shingles. Homeowners with experience of different shingle roofs were interviewed, and data were collected on the background and performance of 20 roofs over a 25-year period. The installation technique of shingle roofs is nuanced, and the situation is often further complicated by the specific consumption context of each roof, where the owner has several opportunities to consciously improve conditions.

Madis Rennu (Estonia) holds a degree in ethnology. Alongside his studies, he has worked as a roofer and shingle cutter. He defended his master’s thesis in ethnology at the University of Tartu on the construction of Estonian stone fences (2007). Since 2008, he has been a lecturer at the Department of Native Crafts at the University of Tartu Viljandi Culture Academy, teaching various courses related to independent research and organizing fieldwork. His articles have addressed contemporary woodworking from both technological and community perspectives. Since 2012, he has served as managing editor of Studia Vernacula.

• Andres Uus “Community Construction Projects by Vanaajamaja NGO”

This presentation introduces community-based construction projects carried out by the NGO Vanaajamaja since 2012: building Järuska bridge with a roof over the Rannapungerja River, restoring the Puutli St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, renovation works at the EAÕK Lalsi St. Nicholas Church, the restoration of three post mills on Vilsandi Island, construction of the Abruka St. Mary Chapel, and participation in the restoration of the EAÕK Miikse St. John the Baptist Church.

Andres Uus (Estonia) is one of the founders of the NGO Vanaajamaja (Old Time House). He holds master’s degrees in Forest Industry (2003) and Rural Construction (2013) from the Estonian University of Life Sciences and has completed advanced training in architectural conservation and restoration at the Estonian Academy of Arts. He has gained experience as a timber framer in Scotland, Canada, the USA, Germany, Poland, and France. Uus has worked in log construction and restoration for nearly 30 years and is co-owner of OÜ Hobbiton (log construction) and OÜ Vana Maja (timber building restoration). He teaches log building at TalTech Tartu College and the Estonian University of Life Sciences.

• Lauri Vaher “Peripheral Craft Heritage Technologies: Wave-Mouldings and Ornamental Turning. Craft Reconstruction and Elicitation at Malmstens LiU.”

This presentation explores two Baroque woodworking techniques—the wave-mouldings machine and the rose-engine ornamental lathe—as early examples of the mechanisation of crafts. Through the reconstruction and operation of authentic replicas at Malmstens Linköping University, we examine their cultural-historical and research value for technical art history, conservation-restoration, and craft education. These peripheral craft heritage technologies represent a nearly vanished lineage of mechanical craftsmanship whose preservation is vital for maintaining skills and know-how. Demonstrations and video documentation reveal how geometry, motion, and resistance co-create refined, articulated surfaces. The study also considers the relevance of these reconstructions for contemporary production: how the underlying kinematics of scraping rather than cutting may inform the re-programming of CNC machines to achieve superior surface quality and new types of ornamentation in dense hardwoods. By reanimating these historical mechanisms, we highlight their potential as both cultural heritage and catalysts for future innovation.

Lauri Vaher (Estonia/ Sweden) currently works at Malmstens Linköping University as an adjunct lecturer in furniture culture, where he and his colleagues train furniture designers, cabinetmakers, and upholsterers at Campus Lidingö in Stockholm. In a future oriented cross-disciplinary educational milieu, Lauri lectures on a variety of topics offering historical perspectives and lessons from the past. Alongside his teaching, he collaborates as a freelancer with local architects, artists, artisans and craftsmen.

• Andres Veel: “Heritage Construction: Who, Where, What, For Whom, and Why?”

This presentation examines the role of heritage construction within Estonia’s building landscape, offering both a retrospective and a forward-looking perspective on the development and directions of the Native Construction program at the University of Tartu Viljandi Culture Academy.

Andres Veel (Estonia) is a graduate of the third cohort of the Heritage Construction program at the Viljandi Culture Academy, lead instructor for the timber house building and wooden structure restoration curricula at Hiiumaa Vocational School, and an artisan entrepreneur specializing in traditional craft-based construction.

• Leele Välja: “Wood Shingles, Shakes and Splits in Contemporary Architecture”

The presentation explores the use of heritage-based wooden roofing materials - such as shingles, shakes, and splits - in 21st-century contemporary architecture. Similar to the growing popularity of reinterpretations of folk music in the cultural sphere, architecture also shows an increasing interest in solutions inspired by heritage, although this phenomenon remains far rarer and more elitist.

Leele Välja (Estonia) is a lecturer in the field of heritage construction technologies at the University of Tartu Viljandi Culture Academy, teaching courses related to architectural history, conservation, and heritage preservation. She graduated as an art historian from the University of Tartu in 1993 and earned her master’s degree in conservation and restoration from the Estonian Academy of Arts in 2004. Her mission is to promote awareness of architectural history and heritage in society at large, both through lectures and publications. She has authored several books and served as editor, compiler, and co-author for numerous publications.