History of building and urban technologies 9

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History of building and urban technologies

John P. Eberhard

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 History of building
Summary: Seven inventions, all developed in the closing
decades of the 19th century, transformed the nature of build-
ing technologies and in turn the design of cities and regional
landscapes: steel structures, elevators, electric lighting, cen-
tral heating, indoor plumbing, the telephone and the auto-
mobile. They still define the nature of building and urban
technologies today. These systems are being brought
into question by their environmental impacts, possibly
setting the stage for another equally inventive era of tech-
nological innovation.
Key words: automobile, building technology, elevators, heat-
ing, lighting, plumbing, steel structural systems, telephone
Architects who practice at the end of the 20th century face a prolif-
eration of new materials and substantial changes in their methods of
practice introduced by electronics. However, those who practiced at
the beginning of the 20th century faced even larger challenges. The
Columbian Exposition of 1893 was the last major architectural de-
sign effort to be based on systems of building which had changed
little “since the age of the pyramids.” The basic systems of buildings
and the urban context into which buildings were inserted were chang-
ing dramatically as the result of inventions introduced in the last 25
years of the 19th century. These inventions not only changed what a
building could be, but altered in a fundamental way how the architec-
ture of cities could be imagined (Fig. 1).
A remarkable set of seven inventions were developed towards the end
of the 19th century to change the design and operation of cities. Each
of these inventions were to have a profound impact on the design of
buildings and cities. Each still forms the technological basis for cities
at the end of the 20th century. These inventions were:
• steel structural systems
• elevators
• the electric light
• central heating
• indoor plumbing
• telephones
• automobiles.
With the possible exception of the telephone, no major invention in-
troduced into the fabric of 19th century cities was without its anteced-
ents. And no invention, including the telephone, was capable of being
utilized in urban areas without the support of a large array of public
and private investments in the infrastructure of the city. For example,
the electric light (a primary invention) was of no use without the gen-
erating stations for electricity, distribution systems for electrical power,
wiring systems within buildings, and fixtures to receive the bulbs.
The organization of architectural specifications, building codes, ref-
erence works for architects and engineers tend to have chapters de-
voted to each of the supporting systems for these seven inventions.
The structure of local city and county government regulatory bodies
and national licensing examinations are dictated by these seven sys-
tems. Even university education tends to be organized around struc-
tural engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, com-
Author: John P. Eberhard, FAIA
References: Elliott, Cecil D. 1991. Technics and Architecture: The Development of Materials and Systems for Buildings. Cambridge, MA:
MIT Press.
History of and urban
building technologies
and urban technologies 9
9
Bradbury Building, Los Angeles, CA. 1890
munications engineering, transportation engineering, etc. to prepare
each new generation to deal with the development, design and main-
tenance of these systems.
Structural framing systems
From before the era of pyramid construction, masonry was used to
construct buildings. From small bricks to the giant stones of the pyra-
mids, architects created buildings whose configuration was limited
by how high masonry could be stacked and how far apart supporting
masonry units could be spaced. If the enclosure at the top of a struc-
ture was of flat masonry (Greek and Roman temples), their supports
could not be very far apart. If timber was used for the roof, then the
distance between supports could be greater. With the development of
the arch and the dome, the span became greater and grander. With the
introduction of iron and steel structural systems in the 19th century,
all of these limitations changed.
There is no fixed time in history, or any single building, that can be
said to represent the first use of a structural steel, although the Home
Insurance Building in Chicago is generally given that credit. Archi-
tect William Le Baron Jenny could not have designed the Home In-
surance Building if Bessemer had not first invented a process of mak-
ing steel, if Andrew Carnegie and others had not invested in the great
steel mills of Pittsburgh, and if earlier uses of cast iron and wrought
iron had not lead the way. By the end of the century architects would
be indebted to an engineer, Charles Louis Strobel, who designed the
wide-flange steel beam which became the structural system of choice
from 1895 onward. Even with the introduction of reinforced concrete
structures during the 20th century, many tall building designers still
prefer to use structural steel (Fig. 2).
Vertical movement (conveying) systems
There is a chicken-and-egg question associated with the elevator: It
would not have been practical to design buildings more than five or
six floors in height if people were going to be required to use stairs,
the historical method of vertical movement in building. Although
Otis is credited with the invention of the elevator and was the founder
of the company that still carries his name, his revolutionary invention
was the safety latch which made the modern passenger elevator prac-
tical. None of the buildings in the 1893 Chicago Exposition had el-
evators, even though it was becoming common to design them into
the office buildings that filled the voids left in the Chicago landscape
by the great fire of 1871 (Fig. 3).
The components of an elevator system are more than the cab, which
is all that most people see in their daily rides. The most common
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 9 History of building and urban technologies

Table 1. Historical overview

Historical examples Discovery or Precursors Second Generation

of Urban Systems Primary Invention to 2nd Generation of Urban Systems

masonry walls smelting iron ore cast iron (1813) STEEL STRUCTURES
timber roofs Bessemer Process wrought iron (1855) for buildings (1883)
arches & domes for steel Eiffel Tower (1889) Home Insurance Bldg.

stairways Safety latch for mechanical lifts ELEVATOR

ramps & pulleys elevators/hoist (1853) hydraulic lifts Equitable Bldg. (1870)
Elisha Graves Otis

daylight light bulb (1880) gas lights ELECTRIC LIGHTS

candles Thomas Edison with piping generators, transmission
oil lamps electrical power from central wiring and fixtures
station (1882) source

fire in the hearth oil-burner (1868) steam engine CENTRAL HEATING

fireplaces gas burner (1902) coal furnace burners/ducts/controls
shady places air-conditioner (1932) ventilating fans refrigerants/condensers

privies and night soil flushing valve water piping (1872) INDOOR PLUMBING
scavengers and water closet storm sewers (1875) toilet/water/sewer
slop jars (1778 to 1878)

messengers telephonics telegraph (1850) TELEPHONE

town crier Alexander G. Bell (Morse Code) switching centers
mail basic patent (1876) phones and wires

oxen internal combustion steam buggy (1865) AUTOMOBILE

horseback Gottlieb Daimler electric car Benz (1893)
horse & carriage patented (1885) oil wells Ford (1896)

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 History of building and urban technologies 9

Fig. 1. Building activity in the United States 1875-1932. (Journal, American Statistical Association. Elliott, 1991)

elevator installations of today are not much changed from the original
Otis installations. Today there more sophisticated electronic controls
are used, especially in very tall buildings, to provide more effective
scheduling and maintenance information. Escalators (introduced in
1900) are used for moving large volumes of passengers up and down
in the major entrances to large buildings. New concepts of vertical
movement combined with horizontal movement will likely emerge in
the 21st century, requiring architects to rethink the integration of ver-
tical/horizontal movement systems into high-rise buildings.

Fig. 2. Steel skeleton separated from building skin in 1881

Fig. 3. Hydrolic elevator (Scientific American, 1899. Elliott. 1991)

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Fig.4. Electric lights
Fig. 5. Central heating system
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Lighting systems
Daylight has always been the fundamental source of light for interior
use in buildings, especially after glass for windows became common
in the 17th century. (“Artificial lighting” or alternatives to daylighting
techniques for seeing is technically known as a lamp). The earliest
lamps were burning sticks or glowing coals held in braziers. Candles
made of beeswax were used by the Romans. Candles made from ani-
mal fat have been used in Europe since the Middle Ages. By the 4th
century BC in Greece, oil lamps were in general use. These were usu-
ally simple vessels made of stone, clay, bone, or shell in which a wick
of flax or cotton was set. In the 18th century a Swiss chemist, Aime
Argand, invented a lamp that used a tubular wick enclosed between
two cylinders of metal (later replaced with a glass cylinder). As early
as colonial times in America, wick lamps were fitted with screws for
adjusting the flame.
With the introduction of illuminating gas early in the 19th century, a
method of distribution of the gas within cities as well as a gas lamp
became the dominant lighting system. With a feverish burst of
inventions, including many electric light bulbs, the last years of the
19th century saw Edison’s lighting devices come to dominate how
buildings would be lighted for all of the 20th century (Fig 4). The
design of buildings with dense floor plans deemed practical for hu-
man activities—but which thus minimized or prohibited any use of
natural daylight— began to emerge. The combination of steel struc-
tures, elevators, and electrical power linked to electrical lighting made
tall buildings a possibility. Only towards the end of the 20th century
have questions been widely recognized about depriving office work-
ers of natural daylight (and ventilation), forcing a reconsideration of
the dense office blocks of earlier years. Once introduced into the build-
ing, electrical systems made a range of other devices possible, includ-
ing the late 20th century set of inventions utilizing electronics.
Heating and cooling systems
Perhaps the first form of shelter for humans was a cave with an open
fire in the center for protection against the cold and from wild ani-
mals. One of the earliest devices for heating houses was the fireplace
and/or a stove in which wood or coal could be burned. Many modern
houses still have fireplaces valued for their psychological and esthetic
satisfaction more than for their heating capacity. In warm climates, or
at those times of the years when the weather is warm, buildings have
historically been cooled with natural ventilation and various shading
devices. During the 1970’s, when a major concern with energy con-
servation was in evidence, architects turned to historical models for
natural ways of ventilation and shading to help avoid the large use of
energy associated with modern cooling systems.
Towards the latter part of the 20th century as oil and gas motors be-
came replacements for earlier steam engines, these energy sources
and their associated technologies began to find their way into heating
 History of building and urban technologies 9

systems for buildings. At the turn of the century, because it was plen-
tiful and cheap and because air pollution was not yet a concern of
urban dwellers, coal was the primary source of heat for central fur-
naces for warm air heating and boilers for hot water or steam distribu-
tion (Fig. 5). The logistics of mining and distributing coal has by the
end of the 20th century largely been replaced by gas, oil and electrical
sources of energy. The rise in electrical heating systems occurred at a
time when natural gas was in short supply and when cooling systems
seemed more easily designed around electrical methods.
Plumbing systems
Obtaining fresh water for drinking purposes is as old as human exist-
ence. Evidence of urban water supply systems can still be seen in
ancient Knossos, Petra and Hydrabad. In Roman times an aqueduct,
named El Puente, carried water from Spain’s Frio River to the city of
Segovia. Built in the 1st century AD, the aqueduct runs both above
and below ground and stretches for a total of 10 miles (16 km). These
two tiers of arches reach a height of 93.5 feet (28.5 m).
It was not until near the end of the 19th century that water for use in
disposing of human wastes was seriously developed (Fig 6). As with
other urban systems, there was no one invention nor a single event in
history when the total system came into existence. The key invention
was a flushing valve for the water closet (toilet) which worked well
enough to allow city water authorities to allow them to be attached to
water systems. Once this gap was bridged, the introduction of “in-
door plumbing” into the house and commercial buildings spread at a
reasonable rate. As late as 1940, however, cities the size of St. Louis,
Missouri still had less than 50% of the housing units equipped with Fig. 6. Indoor plumbing system
indoor toilets. A primary reason for this relatively slow utilization
rate is the larger urban system of water supply and waste disposal
associated with providing indoor plumbing. One hundred years after
development of the water-flush toilet, concerns about water consump-
tion, water body and aquifer pollution suggests the need for new tech-
nologies for water conservation and waste nutrient recovery.
Communication systems
The early telephones (shown in Fig. 7 with original Bell phone in the
center) were derived from the basic patent Alexander Graham Bell
obtained in 1876. While working on sound transmission for the deaf,
he discovered that steady electric current can be altered to resemble
the vibrations made by the human voice. Once the instrument was
invented, an urban system of telephone switching centers, wires (origi-
nally strung along poles), relays, etc. had to be put in place. Interna-
tional calls became possible once a cable was laid along the ocean
floor (about 1912). It can be argued that the modern office building
was made possible by the telephone, connecting thousands of work-
ers at their desks directly to other workers in all parts of the building,
city, the country, and the world

Fig. 7. Telephone

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Fig. 8. Freeway in the city
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With the advent of the electronic era towards the end of the 20th cen-
tury, a greatly expanded communications network was introduced by
linking computer-based systems to phone systems and satellite trans-
mission. While these advanced systems have done little to change the
architectural shape of the city (in Western society), they have created
new challenges for the design of office buildings and other facilities
tied to electronic networks. Local area networks (LANS) have be-
come so much in demand by modern organizations that buildings
which cannot provide for them, either by access, clearances, increases
in power capacity and similar opportunities for upgrading, are doomed
to be abandoned or replaced.
Personal transportation systems
The internal combustion engine by Daimler is the primary invention
leading to the automobile. Ford and Benz applied Daimler’s inven-
tion to a horseless carriage, and then went on to organize automobile
production companies. They relied on others to find oil wells, de-
velop petroleum products and distribute them as fuel and lubricants
for the automobile.
Designing and building roads (Fig 8) along which to operate the auto-
mobiles was also an important step in creating a personal means of
transportation. In large cities the network of roads, parking spaces,
service stations, and repair garages become complex systems. This
single invention could be said to have for better or worse transformed
the landscape of cities, regions and, in the case of the United States,
an entire continent with the development of Interstate Highway sys-
tem beginning in the late 1940s. The architectural design issues of
large scale cities and the buildings which are central to their commer-
cial and institutional facilities, are dependent on effective interfacing
with the car and related personal transportation networks, as well as
with the public transportation systems.