The industrial revolution in Britain gave birth to a new, modern world. Technology was developing fast, new building types such as warehouses and factories were introduced that changed how people lived. Different materials that were made available for people allowed them to take construction into a whole new level. They started exploring and used different structural metal frameworks to create structures that would work for their benefit. This paved the way for the construction of the skyscrapers we see today.
Structures that were built earlier were mostly made of wood thus had the huge risk of fire. Luckily, during the industrial revolution, iron was made available. The development of the iron industry was pretty quick thus allowed people to build machines, and later on use it for construction. Abraham Darby was the pioneer of using iron and constructed the famous River Severn at England (see photo below). After Darby, people started adopting this technology in the construction of their buildings. Many people followed his footsteps and factories were soon constructed to be fireproof which from then on was the goal of factory builders.
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| First bridge made completely of iron. |
As the iron production was booming, people devised ways on how to make the most out of this material such as the production of more malleable wrought iron. Puddling, the process that involved melting cast iron in a furnace removed carbon from the metal was used to be able to produce building components detrimental to constructing sturdy structures such as trusses that had to be strong in tension. This mass production of Iron led to the construction of build fire-proof structures with more storeys.
This era shows us how technology benefits us and contributed to the advancement of the way we live. It allowed us to build faster, stronger structures that allowed people to create the world we live in today. The industrial architecture indeed played a major role in the birth of 20th century architecture.
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