What is the Industrial Revolution?
- Known as the time from 1760-1850.
- It was a time of gradual, yet significant, changes of agriculture, transportation, economic policies, social structure, textiles, and metal manufacture.
- The new techniques and uses of these topics brought about increases in production, efficiency, profit, and commerce.
How did Metal Manufacture change with the Indusrial Revolution?
- Mainly through the improvements of the iron industry.
- A man named Abraham Darby found a way to produce iron with coke; as opposed to charcoal.
- Before Darby, iron was made by smelting the pig iron with charcoal.
- Although charcoal was an excellent source of energy to smelt the iron with, it came at a high cost. The use of charcoal resulted in a widespread depletion of England's forests.
- Darby's new way of creating iron did come with its problems; the material was a bit too brittle to build anything other than castings, but Darby's technique was the first stepping stone toward modern iron making.
What other forms of Iron were used to Improve Chicago's Architecture?
- 1) Wrought Iron - A form of iron that is mixed with little carbon to create a flexible and less brittle metal than cast iron.
- It has been used for centuries but was recently improved with Darby's new method of creating iron.
- Wrought iron is not strong enough to support large buildings, but is used as the main material in many types of fences.
- 2) Steel - A form of iron that is mixed with little carbon, however more carbon is used in steel than in wrought iron, which is used to form a semi-flexible yet very sturdy material.
- Steel is the base material used in many modern buildings and wouldn't have been made possible without Darby's form of iron making.
What other Innovations were made during the Industrial Revolution that Helped Contribute to Modern Architecture in Chicago?
- The production of Glass
- Mass glass production can be attritbuted to two main men: Otto Schott and Freidrich Seimens.
- Schott performed various scientific studies to study the effects of chemical elements on the thermal and optical properties of glass. He successfully made a glass that had properties used for a wide variety of applications.
- Seimens is known for his invention of the tank furnace.
- The tank furnace allows for continuous production of mass amounts of molten glass; which was far more efficient than the pot furnace used proir to the tank furnace.
- Thanks to these two men, the first building made almost entirely of glass was built in 1850 by Joseph Paxton. it was named the Crystal Palace.
- Although this building was built in London, it gave future architectes in Chicago the inspiration they needed to start using glass.
