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

the products of the industrial era.
With the advent of mass production brought on by industrialization, materials such as steel, glass, and reinforced concrete were made at a higher quality and a higher quantity, making their use as a construction material feasible.

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

enterprise.
The large window bays, thin floors, and slender columns of the American factory were recognized and admired internationally. Building such as the Fagus Factory (3) took inspiration from this iconic American form. While the building itself is an administrative office it mimics the form of the American factory. Its exterior façade is made to look as if it is hanging from the roof line as a single sheet of glass. The lines of brick act as a faux concrete column, but the whole of exterior wall is transparent so you can see the actual columns inside, along with the concrete floors. The building means to put on display this newly possible form and to accentuate the physical possibilities of these new materials. Open spaces such as these would not have been possible with stone and the building means to make a point of it by showing what this “fake” stone can do.
The exploration of what reinforced concrete could do went far beyond the opening of interior space very early on. Near the same time that the American factories were using concrete to open floor plans Max Berg used it to open up a whole building. The Jahrhunderhalle (4) in Breslau used concrete to create a wholly open interior free form the normal support structure that was even used in the new factories. He achieved this soaring interior by employing the ancient arch form, creating an interesting cross of ancient and high tech. These arches are on a much larger scale than the Romans could ever dream of but they are still arches. The arches in the Jahrhunderhalle are made of concrete and are much stronger and lighter than they would be if they were made of classical materials such as brick or stone. On top of using a stronger and lighter material for the super structure, Berg further lightened the structure by using glass as the primary façade material for the dome. The product is an enormous open interior, lit by a flood of light from an impossibly thin glass dome that sits perched atop seemingly fragile, slender arches. The exterior has much the same affect. The dome that sits on these arches appears to float; there are no visible supports from the exterior and with the top being made to look as if it is all glass the roof seems like it should collapse in on itself at any moment.
From the late 1800s through today, glass, steel, and concrete have been the cornerstone of our built world. These materials allow us to build up, down, and out. They also allowed us to build without the limits that were placed on stone and masonry. Concrete can be poured into any shape we want, steel and glass can be too. The versatility of these materials let architects in the early 20th century as well as today create buildings that are on a new scale of design and a new scale of size. Buildings the size of the Jahrhunderhalle would be impossible with stone, the open spaces of the American factories and the Fagus building would be impossible with stone. The freedom of form enjoyed by designers and architects today is owed directly to the materials that were made available to us through the advent of the machine and the spread of industrialization.