The construction effort was largely financed by Benscheidt, who worked in conjunction with foreign investors raise the necessary funding. The building's foundation was achieved by mixing compressed concrete and pebble dashing. While the majority of the rising structure was erected with brick, the floors were laid down with reinforced wood planks. The ceilings were constructed with a formwork shell (Gotz 138).
The glass windows that the Fagus Factory is noted for were erected upon steel frames and cover the building's entire exterior. What is of interest about this fact is that the corners of the building were constructed without supports, in much the same way that the Turbine factory was (Jaeggi 43-44). The glass was placed between piers to achieve this effect, and the individual frames were made of L. beams which were actually screwed in. The frames of the glass were sealed to the piers via steel plates that were wedged between them.
Significance
The primary significance attributed to the original construction of the Fagus Factory is its glass exterior, which seemingly defied convention by appearing to hang around corners without support. It is also noteworthy that despite Gropius's previous experience working on similar buildings with Behrens and Meyer (such as the AEG Turbine factory), his carrying out the design efforts (that were partially conceived by Werner) represented his first industrial commission. The novelty of the appearance of glass walls on the exterior of the building are alluded to in the following quotation from Nikolaus Pevsner, who noted in regards to the Fagus Factory that "For the first time a complete facade is conceived in glassflat…thanks to the large expanses of clear glass, the usual hard separation of exterior and interior is annihilated" (Pevsner 4-5).
Bibliography
Gotz, Jurgen. "Maintaining Fagus" in Fagus: Industrial Culture from Werkbund to Bauhaus. New York: Princeton Architectural Press. 200. Print.
Jaeggi, Annemarie. Fagus: Industrial Culture from Werkbund to Bauhaus. New York: Princetion Architectural Press. 2000. Print.
Pevsner, Nikolaus. Pioneers of Modern Design. Bath: Palazzo Editions. 1949. Print.
3. Empire State Building (1929-1931)
3.1. Background
There were a number of different functions for the Empire State Building. As a skyscraper constructed in the early part of the 20th century, its numerous floors were created to allow for a substantial amount of office space. Skyscrapers were becoming popular due to the effects of the industrial revolution during the preceding century, and office work and the space for it was considered highly important in the continuing production of commerce and industry during this epoch.
In many regards, however, the Empire State Building was constructed for cultural purposes. The building was actually erected during a time when it was in competition with at least two others (the Chrysler Building and 40 Wall Street) for the title of the world's tallest building. This competition would prove highly influential in the design and construction methods used to erect this monument, which was widely regarded as a cultural icon that was distinctly American.
Interestingly enough, the building's history can be traced to the early part of the 19th century, when the Astor family purchased the land that the building is presently on. By the end of the century the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel was situated on the 34th street and Fifth Avenue. Before long, a pair of investors (John Raskob and Pierre du Pont) acquired the rights to the property and commissioned William F. Lamb to design the structure. The Starrett Brothers and Eken worked as general contractors on the project.
3.2 Design
Since the Empire State Building was created during the competition to produce the world's tallest building, the design for the structure was predominantly conceived of in the need to conserve time. To that end, Lamb, who worked for an architectural company by the name of Shreve, Lamb and Harmon, widely forsook originality in favor of influence -- which he gained from a pair of buildings. The design for the Empire State Building was patterned after that of the North Carolina's Reynolds Building (Covington), as well as the Carew Tower in Ohio. The building was designed from its apex down (Wagner 12), and the principles it utilized were relatively simple -- they emphasized both height and the need for celerity. The drafts of the Empire State building were completed in just two weeks in order to speed construction, particularly since the Chrysler Building (Myers) and 40 Wall Street were already under construction while the Empire State Building was still being designed.
The building comprises 102 stories and is 443 meters tall, including a 62 meter high antenna which caps its roof. The vast majority of the stories were intended to be used for office space. Approximately a year after the building's construction was completed in 1931, tower lights were placed...
The professional manager held ultimate responsibility for construction, while the designer's authority with respect to the client receded. on-site work done by subcontractors was managed by large general contractors who provided the supervising engineers, and did not necessarily have to adhere to the designers places (Cuff 33). This change was a direct consequence of the arrangement of work in the Industrial Revolution, where specialisation was given new dimensions and
G. Chunnel), take upwards of 1.5 to 2 decades to adequately plan and construct. Thus, no is the time to look forward to the future of railway in Britain and invest in the possible. This will, in fact, protect the next two generations from being saddled with even higher debt and potentially a lower rate of benefits (Department of Transport 2009). However, other research shows that the government's economic case is
Thomas Aquinas led the move away from the Platonic and Augustinian and toward Aristotelianism and "developed a philosophy of mind by writing that the mind was at birth a tabula rasa ('blank slate') that was given the ability to think and recognize forms or ideas through a divine spark" (Haskins viii). By 1200 there were reasonably accurate Latin translations of the main works of Aristotle, Euclid, Ptolemy, Archimedes, and
Staircase ramps which are comprised of steep and narrow steps that lead up one face of the pyramid were more in use at that time with evidence found at the Sinki, Meidum, Giza, Abu Ghurob, and Lisht pyramids respectively (Heizer). A third ramp variation was the spiral ramp, found in use during the nineteenth dynasty and was, as its name suggests, comprised of a ramp covering all faces of the
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