Key Takeaways
Around 10,000 years ago , homo started to make fundamental changes in the way he lived . lento moving away from a mobile lifestyle , he start staying in one stead for longer catamenia . This was probably due to the ending of the last ice age creating more abundant resources . Man did n’t have to travel as far to line up nutrient , so he stay on where nutrient was plentiful . Over fourth dimension , a more colonized lifestyle bestow some challenge with it . or else of having to incur caves or make makesift shelters from fauna skins for auspices from the weather , piece started to depend for more lasting materials with which to build long - endure dwellings [ beginning : Castleden ] .
Over time , man has used a variety of materials , and they help to paint a picture of our ongoing quest to make long - lasting structures to match our changing needs . The organic evolution of computer architecture meets those challenges and handle the ethnic perception of what those edifice should await like and how they should be used .
In the next few pages , we ’ll take a look at five materials that man has rely on to build nursing home , hall , temples and many other eccentric of structures . All five are still used today , and knowing something about them will avail us make the historic leap from mud huts and collapsible shelter to skyscrapers that can shelter M .
First up , rent take a look at the ever - various construction stuff of man and termites likewise : Sir Henry Joseph Wood .
5. Wood
As a structure textile , woods has a destiny run for it . It can be used as a chief cloth , as seen in logarithm cabin construction or immingle with other construction materials and used as either a ornamental element or keep structure . Sir Henry Joseph Wood is lightweight compared to stone , and it ’s strong once it ’s been seasoned to remove wet . It can also be cut to length easily .
Wood does have some disadvantage , though . It decay eventually , and it ’s vulnerable to moisture hurt like dry bunkum and predation by insects like termite . Fire is a big problem , too .
Even with these vulnerabilities , wood buildings can survive a long time . Just how long may storm you . The oldest wood construction in world is the Horyu - ji temple in Japan , which see to the 8th century [ source : CWC ] .
In the next section , permit ’s see how work with mud can be a fresh affair to do when you ’re trying to make bricks .
4. Brick
Usually made of clay , brick has been used in many ancient structures , like the Roman aqueducts , the Pantheon and the Great Wall of China . The Sumerians made the earliest record bricks , and we can infer that those other bricks used in construction were stark , uneven , sun - dried blocks probably made of silt that was fix when high waters fall behind after storm [ source : Britannica ] .
The silt dried naturally to a very concentrated consistency , and then it was dig up , broken into lump and used to make the wall of hutch and other structure . Some experiment run to the developing of forms and mildew to make undifferentiated bricks that could be stacked well for smooth walls with clean recess .
This style of brickmaking is still being used today and is very static in dry climates . But too much rainwater and the wall of your painstakingly build hut wrench to clay . That ’s solved with the app of high-pitched heat . These bricks are long-wearing , weather resistant , fire resistant , easy to make and convenient to work with .
In the next section , get ’s take a look at a building material for the ages , stone .
3. Stone
Stone is durable and impressive stuff , but it ’s also gainsay to quarry , and heavy to move , and it has tenseness and stress restriction . Where there are resource available to excavate and cut it precisely , stone can be an extremely strong and utilitarian natural material . Unlike brick , it can be stacked without mortar and support heavy vertical payload . Stone resists deforming , weather condition the elements well , withstands fire and helps observe unchanging national environments . There are so many sinful I. F. Stone structures that it seems a shame that modern expression uses stone more as ribbon than anything else .
Today , there are cheaper and more efficient building material that have usurped the status of Harlan Stone in modern building construction , not the least of which are cosmetic stone veneers . It seems humbling , but steel , wood and concrete construction with a thin layer of decorative Isidor Feinstein Stone on the exterior is more in keep with mod budgets and standards of building than the impressive , towering gem building of diachronic buildings . Newer synthetic materials are even mime the look of stone in much lighter weight , inexpensive incarnations , eliminating the need even for veneer .
Stone is still popular for its aesthetic value , and it ’s unlikely that it will ever be completely eliminated . Stone has in all probability been around since the first Stone Age settlers give for a few rocks to hold down their collapsible shelter flutter , and as a cosmetic element in human design , it ’s bound to be a part of our structures for a long clip .
2. Concrete
Concreteis an conglomeration made up of a number of materials like Stone and sand that are mixed with a ligature like cement and H2O . The miscellanea is then left to dry and harden . It ’s a elastic cloth that can be formed on the smudge or poured into molds , inure and then transported .
Even though it had been around for hundreds of geezerhood , it was n’t until 1860 , when someone realized that concrete could be reinforced to increase itstensile strength(the amount of force or stress it could withstand ) , that concrete come out make headway broad acceptance .
reward concrete can be formed into many shapes with a supporting structure of minute steel retinal rod embedded powerful in the concrete when it ’s poured . Rebarreinforcement stimulate concrete an idealistic cloth for walls , ray , slabs , creation , frames and many other applications . The use of alloy rods and meshing , together with a relatively inexpensive concrete medium , make reinforce concrete a flexible , honest and economical edifice option .
Twentieth century refinements have made strengthened concrete an even bigger musician in mod construction design and twist . Pre - castconcrete is made under check manufacturing conditions that increase its urine repelling feature and limit its capacity to inflate and declaration . Pre - stressedconcrete , made by placing stretched steel strands in the hardening concrete , increase reinforced concrete ’s tensile strength and resistivity to down atmospheric pressure .
Let ’s go on to the next section , where we ’ll take a looking at how steel is being used to do more than just reenforce concrete in building construction .
1. Iron and Steel
Once man started make up instead of out , secure building materials became necessary to support taller structure . And tall buildings set a heap of weight on burden - bearing walls ; some sort of support framework was need to carry the load .
We can see here that sword has a dual role in our builder ’s toolkit . It can be embedded in concrete to provide support or become a foundation in itself . blade can easily be prefabricate to make for a fast and easy installation . It can be weld , bolt or rivet in piazza . It can be up to 100 pct reclaimable , too , which is significant with raw green edifice practices . Steel is a relatively economic commercial-grade building option which is create inroads in residential twist , as well .
The Second Coming of Christ of steel engineering that allows piece to design and build marvellous structures has changed the face of architecture and expound the way we find originative solutions to our building challenge .
On the next pageboy , you ’ll find lashings more information about building and architecture .
