Early Reinforced Concrete

This volume traces the process by which reinforced concrete emerged during the 19th century as the successful building material of today. Early work on testing the strength of cements led into a period of experimental work by a number of engineers, notably in Britain, France and America, to devise successful systems of embedding iron in concrete in such a way that the two materials would act together to carry imposed loads. The papers take the story to the early years of the 20th century and provide a thorough review of the gradual evolution of ideas and the contributions of individuals to this technology.

From the Foreword by Kenneth Frampton: "Concrete remains a valuable historical text that in many respects has never been given its due. It is an unmatched pioneering history of the development of reinforced concrete up to 1914. It records and analyses the densely articulated, if provincial, English debate with respect to the aesthetic challenge posed by the increasing popularity of concrete from around 1870 onwards. Finally, until very recently it was the only readily available monograph on Auguste Perret in English. In this regard it is particularly valuable as a thorough and perceptive assessment of Perret's life and career, one that still stands as a point of departure for all current attempts to situate this seminal architect within the wider trajectory of twentieth-century culture."

The creation of reinforced concrete, a composite, is based on the inventions of Portland cement and the rolled steel bar. This dual concept was in force in the 1880s, rapidly enforcing the composite on the market, gradually phasing out the materials of natural stone and wood in construction works. Simultaneously, simple computation models were developed, allowing calculations of the building material for constructions, useful as flooring, beams, columns, bridges, road pavements, cisterns, trusses, tubes etc. Though simple, the first design theory in 1887 became very useful as it reduced the dimensions of structures by about 50 %. In 1890, P. Neumann, a pioneer from the Vienna school, contributed to a more scientific model of properties, though slowly utilized in practice, which inspired the design theories launched by three outstanding pioneers, E. Mörsch, R. Saliger and E. Suenson after the turn of the twentieth century. Meanwhile J. Melan and F. Emperger in Vienna and A. Ostenfeld in Copenhagen started the era of bridge designing from Monier vaults. Emperger, occupied in the USA with bridge designing 1890- 1897, contributed to the very rapid development of bridge-building in the USA. Much in the same manner, F. Hennebique and his peer E. Fryssinet were in charge of the amazing development of monolithic reinforced structures and pre-stressed bridges in Europe 1892-1940. The ultimate calculation method for reinforced concrete became a reality when a pioneer from the Danish school, A. Ingerslev launched theories for flat slabs. Despite a very short active period, Ingerslev's theory was employed in Denmark after 1921. His follower K. W. Johansen, occupied with the subject for three decades, brought the flat slab theory to its peak. Slowly, due to very late translations, it gained acceptance in all countries dealing with flat slab structures. The ultimate use of the composite appeared in thin shell structures: Orly hangars erected in 1921-1923, the spherical dome in Jena in 1924 and elliptical shaped shell structures in Spain and Switzerland in the 1930s, due to E. Torroja and R.Maillart. Finally, after the failure of the hotel Goldener Bär in Bern in 1901, the building code for concrete was rapidly enforced, in 1903 in Switzerland, soon followed by codes in Austria and Germany. The higher safety of concrete structures, due to the increased strength of the materials, was soon followed by more sophisticated design theories, based on prismatic failure stresses.

Imagine what the world would be like without concrete: there'd be no high-rises, no grand irrigation projects, no lettuce from southern climes in the winter, no multi-lane highways crisscrossing continents, a shortage of electricity, more mud in some places, more solitude in others. But because of the fossil fuels and other resources required to make concrete, there also would be less CO2 in the atmosphere and less dramatic climate change. In Concrete: From Ancient Origins to a Problematic Future, Soderstrom tells the story of concrete's glorious past, extravagant present, and uncertain future with careful research, lively anecdotes, and thoughtful reflection. The framework for this exploration is one the Romans--famous for concrete structures that are still strong--would understand: the four elements of Earth, Fire, Water, and Air. "[For] those of us who are thinking about, and educating for, deep cultural change, . . . for those of us that care about what it means to be good, in the deepest sense; to participants in an earth-system that is failing at human hands, in the context of recognizing the repercussions of the Anthropocene." --Laura Sewall, author of Sight and Sensibility: The Ecopsychology of Perception

Inspiration for architects and urban planners, this text presents a re-evaluation of a material finally coming into its own in the 21st century - concrete. The text is illustrated with projects from some of the biggest-name architects around.