Cast-iron architecture
Iron architecture, also cast iron architecture or the engl. Cast- Iron - term architecture is an architectural style in which the building material of cast iron plays a structural role. The style developed in the era of the Industrial Revolution, when cast iron was mass-produced affordable, while modern steelmaking methods were not yet developed.
Constructive use
Cast iron for centuries had been in use, sometimes also in the architecture of pre- modernity. Notably, the builders of some temple served in China, the benefits of its compressive strength and versatile formability. Only in the 18th century in the UK - due to new Verkokungsmethoden and thus new manufacturing processes - driven the production of cast iron in such quantities and cheap that you could use enough material in the construction industry to build larger buildings. One of the first projects, now a World Heritage Site, was The Iron Bridge in Shropshire, an example case for a supporting structure, which consisted almost solely of cast iron. However, it was the bridge that should ensure the transport of the cast iron from the iron and steel, also far too large ( the steel parts weighing a total of 380 tons, and the builders (especially Abraham Darby III) suffered financial losses., The quality of the iron used is not high, and in today's construction are clearly visible more than 80 cracks. Later improved engineers such as Thomas Telford both design methods ( the Iron Bridge was by carpenters principles together ) and the material quality of their bridges ( for example Buildwas, a few kilometers upstream ) and aqueducts (about Pontcysyllte aqueduct in North Wales).
Cast iron has some structural advantages and weaknesses. It is very resistant to pressure, on the other hand takes bad train and bending stresses on, and in the heat of a fire, its stability can fail suddenly. At the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, it became customary to use cast iron in factory construction, partly from the mistaken idea out, such designs are fireproof. Cast iron could probably carry the heavy machine, but it was against the frequent fires in such factories very vulnerable. William Strutt was with a number of buildings, one of the pioneers of this design. However, many buildings had collapsed in large cast iron supports due to brittle fracture, which buckled at the base, where the voltages at the largest, often because of defects and voids in the interior of the castings.
Cast iron has been used for bridges for the new railway age. Even as horrible accidents occurred, especially if instead of bows straight beam structures were used. For the first time cast iron was used in 1830 to a design by William Fairbairn at Water Street terminus of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, who was a successful working example of the same and was only demolished in 1900 because of widespread concerns about iron substructures in the British railway system. In order to achieve greater spans, put Robert Stephenson (erroneously ) Wrought support in building a bridge over the River Dee. Such bridges, in which the carrier parts were welded together, had to be torn down after the disaster of the Dee Bridge collapse of 1847. This led to put together wrought iron girder with rivets now, and finally to use rolled steel, as this was available in the late 1860s. Cast iron, however, was further used in railroad underpasses, and there was there a number of serious accidents resulting in death. The worst railway accident was 1879, the Tay Bridge disaster, as the central parts of the bridge during a storm at the moment broke when a train passed over it and lost more than 75 passengers and staff. The vulnerabilities were cast iron fittings, where Travers winners were secured, and after this collapse cast iron constructions were finally abandoned in new bridges. Most of the smaller cast iron support structures were torn down and replaced by another accident at Norwood Junction 1891.
Chance of cast iron was also used for tower constructions, such as when King Frederick Augustus Tower at Lobau ( Saxony).
Also formed in greenhouses cast iron, the usual supporting structure, leading to the design of the monumental Crystal Palace by the greenhouse builder Joseph Paxton for the first world exhibition in London in 1851 led. Subsequently these glass and iron architecture was followed throughout the world.
Use as cladding
In the 19th century, the low price and the general availability of cast iron also led to diverse use for decoration and cladding purposes. John Haviland of Philadelphia developed the concept of cast iron facade, which was adapted and further developed by James Bogardus in New York far-reaching and large scale. Cast iron was pressed into a variety of shapes, which artfully crafted facades enabled, which were cheaper than traditional carved in stone. These facades could also be coated in a variety of colors. Many buildings had elaborate neoclassical or historicist facade jewelry. Many of the buildings that were mainly office and industrial buildings are still visible, particularly in the districts of SoHo and TriBeCa, New York. Europe is home to the best examples Victorianischer warehouses in Glasgow, Scotland, which was a boom in the late 19th century.
The technique, however, did not prove itself. The facades often had to be soon painted brown because the iron rusted, and fires the construction often collapsed even before the flames reached the metal. But the radiant heat of a nearby fire was enough to soften the iron.
Because of the development of modern steel, the far better suitable as a building material in use, the importance waned as cladding in this era. Many innovations in the cast Iron Age have been adopted, in the era of the steel frame and helped in the development of the skyscraper.