Transcript History

Overview of the
Construction Industry
History
Traditional Limits on Construction Options
Mud Brick, aka Adobe, in West Africa
History
North American Native
people developed
specific solutions to
their needs for
shelter. Some served
the purposes of a
nomadic life.
History
The Teepee could be easily assembled, and
disassembled
History
The Pueblo people of Taos, New Mexico
inhabit the oldest town in the United States
History
The houses of Taos are made from Adobe,
or mud brick
History
Adobe is one of the most popular materials
on the planet for construction
History
In this African village, adobe is used to build
houses and granaries to store food.
History
More African Adobe shelter.
History
Adobe is essentially sun-dried brick. Mud bricks that dry
in the sun. They are easily fabricated, but must be
protected from moisture.
History
Early settlers in the midwest of the US built quickly by
harvesting sod, and stacking it to make walls.
Crude but effective
History
• Historically, buildings were constructed by their users.
• Native Americans built their own homes, as did the
early settlers, or homesteaders.
• In small villages all over the world, houses are built by
owners, or by a collective of local villagers.
• Barn raisings are an example of this type of collective
construction
• Some ancient civilizations organized the labor
required to build massive structures, either on the
backs of ‘slave’ labor ( Slave labor was a key
component in much early American construction,
including early buildings in New York City) or by
elevating the importance of the worker
History
Stone is a very, very, very durable material.
It is also very labor intensive, particularly when
fabricated with primitive tools.
History
The Egyptians gave us the term ‘Master Builder’ or ‘Architect’ . Recent
discoveries have led archaeologists to believe that a job working on the
great tombs of Egypt was a highly coveted position.
History – Ancient
Egypt
Simple stone construction, such
as the methods employed by
the Egyptians, was massive incapable of spanning across
any large distance.
History – Ancient Greece
Similarly, the ancient Greeks did not understand how to
span great distances. They built their structures
from stone, and could span short distances, from
column to column in stone, or would be forced to
change materials for roof spans, constructing these
from wood.
History – Ancient Greece
The Acropolis, in Athens, was constructed by individual
‘contracts’, the origin of the title ‘contractor’
History – Ancient Greece
Records indicate that the columns for the Temple of Athena on
The Acropolis, in Athens, were each contracted to separate
individuals based upon a ‘specification’
History – Ancient Rome
The Romans, who came to dominate Europe in the aftermath of
the Greeks, were engineers. They developed the arch, or
vault, to span greater distances, the dome, and, concrete.
History – Ancient Rome
The Coliseum in Rome is one demonstration of their engineering
skills.
History – Ancient Rome
The Romans were builders, and much of what they built still
stands today.
History
A Roman
roadway in
the United
Kingdom
History – Ancient Rome
The Pantheon in Rome,
constructed by the Romans,
was the largest dome in the
world for over a thousand
years.
It was constructed from a
crude recipe for light weight
concrete
The apex of the dome was left
open to allow light to enter
History – Gothic Cathedrals
Construction in Europe
declined with the fall of the
Roman Empire, and did not
return in any substantial
way until the Middle Ages,
when slowly society began
to organize, guilds were
formed, and the great
Cathedrals of Europe were
constructed.
These structures were built
almost entirely of stone
with glass infill
History
These structures often took several hundred years to complete.
No drawings were known to have been done to guide the
construction. The work was supervised by a master builder,
and completed by members of the guilds, or trades.
History – Middle Ages
The Guilds, or trade unions, developed in Europe to train workers
in fields of specialized work, and to pass on the tricks of the
trade to younger generations.
History – Guilds
Carpenters, Masons, Blacksmiths,Glaziers
History - Guilds
The Guilds preceded the modern trade union
The Historical Limitations on
Construction
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Available Materials
Skills of the Laborers
Skills of the Master Builder
Functional Requirements
Climate
Research and Development
Another way of looking at The Historical
Limitations on Construction
• We build from materials that we can
source
• We are dependent upon skilled labor to
install the work correctly
• We need a plan and a leader.
• Our buildings must fulfill our functional
requirements
• We adapt our buildings to the local climate
• We are constantly evolving our designs,
learning new skills, trying new materials,
developing new tools
Mankind is constantly adapting to new situations, new
requirements, developing technologies, and changes in the
supply line. Here in Myanmar, elephants are used in the place
of heavy equipment, or teams of horses, depending upon which
century you compare to.
Here in our neck of the woods, tens of thousands of people
migrated from the eastern half of the US and from Europe to
follow the Oregon Trail in the hopes of building a better life for
their families. They took with them their skills, and found
materials once they arrived, if they made it.
They found trees, and cut them down to build Portland.
And the march of progress never stopped. Veteran’s Memorial
Coliseum in Portland, a state of the art facility at it’s time,
constructed by Hoffman Construction
History
The dynasties that ruled China for centuries took advantage of the
many hands in their society and built monumental structures on
the backs of the people.
History
The Forbidden City in Beijing
History
The Walled City in Kowloon, Hong Kong
Built by residents. Eventually demolished by the government.
History - The Renaissance
The end of the Middle Ages brought on a newly
revitalized Europe, known as the Renaissance, and
with it, Architects, Engineers, Clients and organized
skilled trades
History – Industrial Revolution
In a very short number
of years, we began to
use science to
develop materials
capable of spanning
great distances,
carrying great loads,
and attaining
unimaginable heights.
And we won’t stop.
History – 20th Century
The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco
History – 20th Century
The Brooklyn Bridge, The Woolworth Building, and The World
Trade Center
History – 21st Century
The glass stairs in the Apple flagship store, 5th Avenue,
Manhattan, NYC
History – 21st
Century
The Burj Khalifa tower, Dubai,
tallest structure in the world,
160 floors