Page 56 - Curriculum Visions Dynamic Book

In early designs the iron frame and the brick supported one another. But as time went on,
the iron frame was designed to be completely self-supporting. The biggest achievement here occurred in the early 20th century with the rise of the skyscraper. But before it there were spectacular iron-frame buildings such as the Crystal Palace built in London for the Great Exhibition of 1851 and made of cast iron and glass. It was high enough to completely enclose fully grown trees.
It was 564 metres long and made of prefabricated parts that were simply bolted together on site. As a result, all 90,000 square metres of space were covered in just six months.
Other forms of metal had equally dramatic, although not as spectacular, results. In the 1830s nails were made in bulk for the first time. This, too, reduced the cost of constructing buildings. Many 19th-century buildings in the United States used readily available timber fastened together with the revolutionary mass-produced nails. That allowed buildings to go up rapidly at a time when America was growing through massive immigration and expansion westward.
Metal was first made into room heaters in
the 16th century. Wood- and coal-burning stoves were put in the centre of a room to produce direct heating without an open fire. But James Watt had already thought of central heating, and by 1784 his office was heated by steam flowing through pipes. From these early beginnings modern central heating systems, with their copper pipes and steel radiators and boiler, developed. They not only made for better heating but, by taking open fires out of many rooms, greatly increased the safety
of buildings.
Bathroom mechanisms were invented in 1778, and by this time all baths, sinks, and boilers for water were also made from metal – usually
See Vol. 5: Glass for more on glass and the Crystal Palace in London.
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