Reinforced Concrete In The 19th Century

The industrial age brought with it creative freedom. Production in this time was on an unseen scale and saw the proliferation of new construction materials; reinforced concrete, steel, and glass. These materials were experimented with, manipulated, and used to create all sorts of structures that would have been impossible using older methods of construction. The use of these new materials lead to the iconic structures recognizable the world over. The towers that were erected during the 19th century were pushing the limits of their construction. The stone blocks that were used to erect buildings such as the Auditorium Building in Chicago were massive and heavy and caused it to sink into the ground. At 238 feet the main tower was hitting the ceiling of stone construction. Structures built with stone had thick walls, large numbers of columns dotting the interior and small windows on the exterior. This typology is pervasive through the 19th century throughout New York as well as Chicago. This form was inefficient and was replaced with

Buildings such as Packard Motor Car Company Building Number Ten (1), Pacific Coast Borax, and the Weavers flour mill all used Hennebique’s (2) method of reinforced concrete construction. This method combined the column and the floor into one single structure. With reinforced concrete being a better load bearing construction material than any stone that could have been used otherwise, these building all had large, open, and efficient interiors that afforded for all kind of different programs. This large unobstructed floor plan design thus became the defacto design for industrial buildings since the building could be fitted with all different kinds of machinery to fit the needs of the owner and his