Industrial Revolution; Rise to new

Architecture

LECTURER AR. PRADIP POKHAREL

21 DEC 2018
Introduction:

• Late 18th and early 19th century

• Major technological, socio, economical and cultural change
• Began in Britain and spreads from England to Europe and North
America
• Emergence of the modern capitalist economy
• Development of architectural techniques and forms (Material ,
Construction technology, hence Design)
Characteristics:

• Invention of Steam engine, fueled by coal.

• Improved transportation system
• Waterways, railways
• Cheaper, faster, further
• Efficiency in production (Increase in Productivity)
• Mining
• Metallurgy
• Textile
General Impacts:
Mining
• Use of steam engine increased efficiency in pumping out water
Metallurgy
• Replacement of organic fuels (wood) with fossil fuel (coal)
Textile manufacture
• Cottage industry harnessed
• Waterpower - spinning/ weaving
• Using flax, cotton & wool
• Introduction of Steam power

• In printing processes resulted

• In a massive expansion of
• Newspaper and Book publishing
The First Industrial Revolution
(1760-1850)
• New machines First in the textile industry and especially in the cotton
industry.
• The Steam engine (James Watt)
• The iron industry=developing of coal mining The locomotive and the
railway: the revolution of transport .
• New machines and factories
• Social consequences:
Exploitation of workers, especially women and children, in factories
and mines. High mortality rate in industrial areas. Growth of the
industrial cities. Bad housing. Beginning of Trade Unions
• Revolution in transportation
The second industrial revolution
(1850-1945)
• New energies: petroleum and hydroelectric power
• New types of industries: electrical, chemical, steel
• New means of transport: automobile, electric trains and trams,
aircrafts
• New countries: USA, Germany and Japan
New Construction Materials:

• Industrial Revolution was to change everything about the world as it

was then, including architecture.
• Previously used material: timber, stone, timber, lime mortar, and
concrete
• Metals were not available in sufficient quantity, used as anything
more than ornamentation.
• By 1900, with the Industrial Revolution in full swing
• Worldwide production stood at 40 million tons, almost 50 times as
much.
• Iron was available in three forms.
• The least processed form, cast iron, was brittle due to a high
percentage of impurities. Wrought iron was a more refined form of
iron, malleable, though with low tensile strength.
• Steel was the strongest, most versatile form of iron. Steel had tensile
and compressive strength greater than any material previously
available, and its capabilities would revolutionize architecture.
Impact in Structures
• The explosion in the development of iron and steel structures was driven
initially by the advance of the railroads.
• In 1779, the first iron bridge was built across the Severn River in
Coalbrookdale, England. It was not an iron bridge as we might conceive
of it today, but rather a traditional arch made of iron instead of stone.
• A triangle is the strongest structural element known, and applied force
only makes it more stable. When a diagonal is added to a square, the
form can be viewed as two triangles sharing a side, the fundamental
element of a truss.
• Trusses were used to build bridges of unprecedented strength
throughout the nineteenth century, including cantilever bridges
consisting of truss complexes balanced on supporting piers.
• A third, more attractive type of steel bridge was the suspension bridge,
in which the roadway is hung from steel cables strung from supporting
towers in giant catenary arcs.
Impact in Architecture

• The heavy industry growth brought a flood of new building materials,

such as cast iron, steel, and glass, with which architects and
engineers devised structures of unimaginable size, form, and
function.
• Large indoor open spaces were now made possible with the use of
strong iron framed construction; this was ideal for factories,
museums and train stations.
• New urban districts of factories and workers’ housing and the public
taste of the newly rich.
• Architects were employed to build canals, tunnels, bridges, and
railroad stations.
Impact on Construction Technology

Structural innovations were possible by the use of metal, led to Increased

use of metal in construction. Bricks & Timber were produced industrially.

GLASS (instead of oiled papers) became popular for windows panes.

Cast iron and wrought iron took over as fire resistant roofing material.
Cast iron columns replaced wooden posts.

Introduction of modern hinged & sliding windows.

Impact on Construction Technology
Modern Revival of Concrete (R.C.C.) by the invention of Portland Cement
(1824)

Light/ transparent Glass topped canopy replaced the solid canopy across
gothic vaults

Barrel vault was preferred for spanning commercial arcade or covered

shopping street

Land got independent economic value, a liquid negotiable commodity

Architectures:
Crystal Palace:
The Crystal Palace (1851, London) 1,850’ long, 110’ tall Iron and glass
building constructed for the Great Exhibition of 1851.
First in a series of “World’s Fair” exhibitions Celebration of modern
technology and design
Designed by Joseph Paxton gardener who had experimented with glass
and iron greenhouses
Contained multiple gardens and fountains, main fountains 250’ high
After the Exhibition, Palace was relocated to another location in
London Functioned as a tourist attraction, destroyed by fire in 1936.
Eiffel Tower:

• The Eiffel Tower (1887-89, Paris) 1,063’ high (81 floors) Designed by
Gustave Eiffel, designed bridges Iron tower constructed as entrance
for Paris’ World’s Fair 300 workers
• One death during construction Tower was criticized as an eyesore
Shape of the tower designed to withstand the force of wind
The Wainwright Building:

Architecture The Wainwright Building (1890-91, St. Louis)

One of the first skyscrapers (11 floors) Red brick with steel frame
Steel allowed taller buildings Designed by Louis Sullivan Rejected
traditional architecture
New materials require new designs “ Form follows function”
The design of a building should reflect its purpose Vertical lines
emphasizes the height of the building, plant designs symbolize growth
The Empire State Building:

• The Empire State Building (1929-31, New York) 1,472’, 102 floors
• Name derived from New York’s nickname Art Deco style World’s
tallest building until 1972
• Financed by General Motors Opening coincided with the Depression,
resulted in lots of vacant office space- “The Empty State Building”
Fallingwater:

• Fallingwater (1934-37, Pennsylvania)

• Vacation home Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright Philosophy of
integrating the building with its environment
• Built over a waterfall- can be heard throughout house
• Uses local materials
• Constructed around boulders and trees
• Horizontal terraces resemble rock formations
Prudential Building:

• Architect Louis Sullivan’s twelve-story Prudential Building in Buffalo

New York is an early example of column framing.
• Built in 1894, its tall, sleek brick veneer walls, large windows and
gently curved top pediment ushers in a new century with the modern
style of the skyscraper.
• For all of its new technology and design innovations, The Prudential
Building still holds some forms from the past.
• A large arch hovers over the main entrance and the brick façade has
extensive ornamentation.