Text 11. New Materials

Advancements in architecture through­out history have depended on the building materials at hand. As recently as American colonial times, builders had only wood, stone, and ceramic materials with which to work. Early American architecture reflects the use of these materials. But a great change came with the development of steel, aluminum, structural glass, prestressed concrete, wood laminates and plastics. Now, buildings can be designed in sizes and shapes never before pos­sible.

Many new materials are really old mate­rials used in new ways or in new forms. Some­times, they are old materials manufactured in a different way. For example, glass is not a new material. But the development of struc­tural glass, glass blocks, corrugated glass, thermal glass, and plate glass in larger sizes has given the architect much greater freedom in the use of this material.

Wood is also one of the oldest materials used in construction. Yet, the development of new structural wood forms, plywoods, and laminates has revolutionized the use of wood in building. The manufacture of stressed-skin panels, boxed beams, curved panels, folded roof plates, and laminated beams has given builders new ways to use wood.

Among the truly new architectural mate­rials is plastic. The development of vinyl and laminated plastic has provided the architect with a wide range of new materials.

But the material that has contributed most to architectural change is steel. Without the use of steel, construction of most of our large high-rise buildings would be impossible. Even smaller structures can now be built on locations and in shapes that were impossible without the structural stability of steel.

The manufacture of aluminum into light­weight, durable sheets and structural shapes has also given greater variety to design. But an old material, concrete, actually changed the basic nature of structural design. New uses of concrete are found in factory-made re­inforced and prestressed structural shapes. These shapes are used for floors, roofs, and walls. They have provided the architect with still other tools for structural design.

Today's architects have the opportunity to design the framework of a building of steel, but use a variety of other materials as well. They can use large glass sheets for walls, pre­stressed concrete for floors, aluminum for casements, plastics for skylights, and wood for cabinets. A wide variety of still other mate­rial makes possible different combinations.

Text 12. Plan of the Modern British Town

It is easy to distinguish from one another the market-town, the country town, the industrial town because the main work carried on in each of them is so different. But in any town all these tasks are being carried on, each by at least a few people. Every town has some banks and some offices, some workshops and some police stations, some dealers in local produce.

Most British towns have long histories. They have seen many changes in the way people live and the ways they make a living. And all these changes have brought about changes in the streets and buildings of the town itself.

In every town one can find sections where old buildings have been torn down and replaced by new ones. There are also other sections where the old buildings still stand but are used today for quite new purposes.

In many towns there is some old part which has stood for the main roads leading into the town from the country winding streets and its tiny shops.

The town centre has probably changed more than any other part of the town. It was always the meeting-place for the main roads leading into the town from the country round. But these roads have now become the busiest and most important streets, so they have had to be widened and straightened to carry the traffic. The old narrow streets and the shops which bordered them have all vanished.

In the central area will be found the commercial centre of the town with its banks, insurance offices and business houses, the offices of the local newspaper and the principal theatres and cinemas. As the town grows its centre also swells and pushes out the other quarters of the town.

In most cases the town centre was already established when the first railway was built, so the town station and the tracks leading to it lie just outside the centre. But railways and industries in most towns developed about the same time and each helped in the growth of the other.

Where the town has continued to grow in recent years and has extended its old industry, or developed a new one, the more modern factories will be found still further from the town centre. They are very different from those of the older and more central industrial area.

The new residential districts are between the main roads and away from the factories. Each has its own shopping centre and often its own cinema and playing fields as well. The coming of the motor-bus and the motor­car has made it possible for the residential part of the town to spread far out into the country into suburbs.

The general use of electricity has enabled the industries to move out too.