A-frame building

A-frame buildings are an ancient form in Europe (e.g. cruck frame construction or grubenhaus), China, and the South Pacific islands. Sometimes called a roof hut, these were simple structures used for utilitarian purposes until the 1950s. In 1934, R. M. Schindler built the first modern A-frame house, for owner Gisela Bennati, in Lake Arrowhead, California. Architects Walter Reemelin, John Campbell, George Rockrise, Henrik H. Bull, and Andrew Geller helped to popularize Schindler's idea in the early 1950s, designing A-frame vacation homes. Before long, thousands of A-frame homes were being built around the world. The Abbey Resort in Fontana-on-Geneva Lake, Wisconsin, claims to have the world's tallest wooden A-frame. ==Rise in popularity==

The post–World War II popularity of the A-frame has been attributed to a combination of factors including Americans' extra disposable income, the inexpensiveness of building an A-frame structure, and a new interest in acquiring a second home for vacationing. Another factor contributing to the rise of the A-frame included the adaptability of the structure itself, which enabled architects to experiment with more modern designs. A-frames were a useful medium in which architects could explore their creative side since they were relatively cheap to build. Additionally, many people preferred the idea of a "modern-style" vacation home to that of a "modern-style" primary home. A-frames became available as prefabricated kits, lowering the cost even more, and were sold by Macy's department stores. After the rise of the archetypal A-frame, architects soon began experimenting with new designs, which led to what became known as the modified A-frame style. ==Examples==

Residential examples • Bennati House (1934), Lake Arrowhead, California, designed by Rudolph Schindler • Elizabeth Reese House, Sagoponack, New York, designed by Andrew Geller • Numerous examples in Washington state. • Numerous examples, including historic kits and (recent?) "Yosemite-adjacent" ones, in Curbed • Twelve A-frame houses in Northcrest Historic District, Atlanta, Georgia • Ranger cabin, Oregon, in Zig-zag Ranger District • Park City, Utah, ski houses Religious examples , designed by Jonas Mulokas A-frame buildings, which had been made popular since 1955 by Andrew Geller, were built for churches across the world. The modern shape was reinterpreted spiritually as representing "hands at prayer" since 1961 and the design of the Holy Cross Anglican Church in Tokyo by the Czech-born American architect Antonin Raymond. His use of interlaced pillars was inspired by the traditional Japanese traditional country minka houses known as gasshō-zukuri (合掌造り), literally "clasped-hands style". Early examples of A-frame religious buildings are the Frank Lloyd Wright designed First Unitarian Society of Madison, built 1949–1951, as well as the Lutheran Church of the Atonement, designed by Harris Armstrong and built in 1949 in Florissant, Missouri. Charles E. Stade designed dozens of A-frame church buildings in the United States throughout the 1950s and 1960s, along with Edward D. Dart and Edward Sövik. Notable Lithuanian American A-frame churches were designed by Jonas Mulokas in the 1950s and 1960s, including his most recognized work, the Transfiguration Catholic Church in Queens, New York, and later St. Mary's Catholic Church in Custer, Michigan. The style was in 1960 used by the Catholic Church to build Saint Joseph Church, Lynden, Washington Christian religious buildings have also adopted the A-style architecture in South East Asia. The first example after Japan might be the Luce Memorial Chapel in Taiwan, in 1963, followed by Saint Michael's Church in Sihanoukville, in 1965, Xavier Hall Catholic Church in Bangkok, in 1972, or the Church of the Pastoral Center in Da Lat, in 2010. This style is still popular in Europe also, as in Henry's Ecumenical Art Chapel in Finland, in 2005. Commercial examples • Numerous older Wienerschnitzel stores are A-frames • Whataburger stores • IHOP restaurants • Tastee-Freez stores • Nickerson Farms stores (e.g., see :File:Abandoned Nickerson Farms, Picacho, AZ.jpg) • Travelers Rest Motel, near Everett, Pennsylvania • Dick Lewis Pontiac-Cadillac (1964), Olympia, Washington • The main building of Florida's Disney's Contemporary Resort, in which the Walt Disney World monorail has a station • Lake Easton Resort (c.1963), Easton, Washington • Tiki Lodge (c.1964), Spokane, Washington Educational examples • Wakefield Country Day School, Flint Hill, Virginia • Vancouver Maritime Museum uses a large A-frame building to house the arctic expedition ship St. Roch ==See also==