Round timber is in fact a strong and cheap building material and it was and still is being used for that purpose since old times. Nowadays however, it is not very popular in the industrial countries for structural applications because of a number of reasons. This is partly due to the higher demands that are being made upon materials to be used for load-bearing structures and furthermore to an unawareness of its potentials, particularly as no safe and up-to-date methods of construction are available. This is necessary because soft roundwood has a tendency to split when drying, which may reduce its strength substantially. For this purpose a new connection technique has been developed using steel wire bindings that are made around the wood with the help of a specially designed tool. This tool tensions, twists and cuts the wire. The author has been engaged with the design and development of a number of structures during the recent years in which various ways of application of roundwood were studied. Forestry thinnings were used for these structures, which adds value to a material that is usually considered as relatively inferior, but which has in fact good structural properties, is generally available and has a low energy consumption during production. These aspects are very important not only in industrialized countries but particularly in developing countries. In the latter case the fact, that the use of bolts or other traditional connection means may be unnecessary, forms a highly cost-reducing factor, which makes this method appropriate to the situation in many of these countries.

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